Butterflies
by TheVermilionRose
Summary: The Great War was meant to serve as a reminder to keep the four city-states in line, but memories blur and Remnant collapses into turmoil. Four years after the start of the war, Team RWBY is left no choice but to rewrite history, stuck between two terrible choices. (Character Development and Experimentation)
1. One - Dust to Dust

Chapter 1

* * *

 **Dust to Dust**

* * *

Team RWBY watched the world below them.

Their view from the cliffs was remarkable. Beacon sat on the edge of a hundred meter ridge, giving it an expansive prospect onto the City of Vale. The image below them was drawn from an artist's vision and painted onto cotton duck, creating a stunning painting.

What lay below them was easily described as breathtaking and striking, yet Team RWBY wanted nothing more than to grab the magnificent painting and tear it to shreds and in the case of Yang, set it on fire, under their feet.

The artist's vision was not their vision. This was not the way they envisioned their home. Their Vale was not the artist's Vale.

Their Vale wasn't burning.

Their Vale wasn't dying.

Flames of yellow, red and orange ravaged the city. Tongues of destruction licked their way from their origins, carving a path towards parts of the city state yet untouched. The crackle of fire rang true, hailing the continued destruction of a once robust city. Billowing smoke hung heavy in the air as it coalesced into clouds black as coal.

The destruction was only marred by the fading god rays of twilight. Swathes of indigo and violet pierced through the smoke creating a symphony of eden and death. Harsh red and oranges harmonized with the tongues of hell, lending credence to their power.

Up above the light show, in the canopy created by the clouds, twisted beings of unmatched power. Beings coloured in skin of black and grey, and armor of white bone. Beings covered in the armor of human misunderstanding and born from human fear. These beings were unaffectionately called Primordials, given the name as the predecessors of all Grimm.

No other beings could claim to inspire the fear and despair the Primordials could. Controlled and created by Salem, their purpose was simple.

To lay ruin to humanity.

Grimm were created by fear and by fear they remained sustained for thousands of years.

Nothing inspired fear in the populace as much as beings nearing three kilometers in length with a wingspan doubling it. Claws the size of fully grown Nevermores raked across the skies and gouged into the terrain below. Armor plated bodies beguiled their agility. Nothing the Hunters did left even a dent in the armor of one.

Above the skies coiled two such beasts.

Team RWBY did nothing but stare as these beasts rained fire upon their city. Unshed tears glistened in their eyes. Their vigil only interrupted by cries of pain and sorrow as the city's inhabitants struggled to escape the dying city.

The cries weren't the worse part.

The following silence was.

Hundreds of voices snuffed out by a single breath of untamed fury. The silence was deafening to those who could still listen to it.

Team RWBY stood, watched and listened to it all. It was their penance for their greatest failure. The glow of their city illuminated their faces in brilliant shades of orange. The scent of agony drifted to their noses. The heat washed over their skin. The silence beat against their ears.

The artist's vision burnt into eternity.

Team RWBY were the only ones left to witness their city burn and be punished for it. The remainder of the Hunters embraced death as they died in service to their people and their High Commander.

Team JNPR, Team CFVY and Team CRDL: killed in the final assault on the Primordials. Their sacrifice bought enough time for their High Commander and Team RWBY to escape.

Their sacrifice was all for naught. They should have died with them.

One team could not succeed where all of the Hunters failed. The High Commander could not succeed where several hundred Hunters failed.

"High Commander." Rose intoned softly. "What a title for me to hold." Her voice carried lightly across to the rest of her team, standing idly behind her.

"It's wasn't your fault Rubes." Yang responded in a caring whisper. "Nothing could have prepared us for this." Her violet eyes pierced the growing darkness and landed upon blood red locks dancing in the wind.

"It was my job, my responsibility to protect Vale." Her voice droned on listlessly. "I failed."

It was in the title and role of High Commander to protect those under her command, namely the Hunters and those protected by them, the people of Vale. An emblem of Remnant's shattered moon of her upper left arm, reflecting the silver light of the original, denoted her rank.

"No." Weiss' voice deftly cut off Yang's response. "We all failed. The burden doesn't rest solely on you Ruby. It rests on all of us." The eloquent voice of their tactician drifted across the smoke. Her white hair, usually pristine as the fallen snow, was sullied with soot.

Ruby turned from the vision of her failure and met the eyes of her team, looking each one in the eyes for several seconds. Soft silver drilled into glittering amethyst filled with a combination of tears and acceptance of their combined failure.

Ruby's eyes drifted to her former partner nestled in her sister's arms. White hair rested in the hollow of Yang's shoulder, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the ever present warmth of her wife. Ice blue peeked out from a white cascade as she met her leader's gaze. A small, sorrowful smile graced her features as she snuggled back into Yang's warmth.

The crackle of flame was interrupted by the sound of buildings collapsing as Vale relinquished its frail hold on a vast neighborhood of condominiums. The rumble lasted for a dozen seconds before the soft thrum of fire and beating wings once again prevailed.

Ruby's eyes strayed to the last member on her team. Precious metal met precious metal and could do nothing but reciprocate the look of despondence and hardened resolve. Two eyes of polished amber stared back into an eye of pure starlight and an eye of bleak midnight.

Stepping forward, Blake's hand rose to caress Ruby's cheek, before gently running her thumb underneath her right eye. Ruby's eyes involuntarily shut at the touch of soft skin on her face. Blake's hand stayed glued to her cheek as she repeatedly ran her thumb over Ruby's shut eye.

The eye was still there. It reflected the twilight and fire offered by the city below, but it would never again be blessed with the ability to see. Solid black iris and sclera forever stared into an endless void.

"It was but a small price to pay to see you alive." A tiny smile tugged at Ruby's lips. Her eye twinkled in the moonlight. "To see all of you alive. Yet I would do it all over again and even lose my other eye if it meant the survival of the rest of our forces." Her remaining eye regained its blank look as she gazed down onto her city. Gleaming silver moved apathetically, from ruin, to flame, to the behemoths soaring above, trapped in an endless loop.

Blake wrapped her arms around her wife's neck and held her as she began to cry at the loss of her flower's eye. Crystal tears drew troughs down olive skin as her hands desperately sought strands of crimson.

"That was the cost I paid in destroying one of the Primordials. You and I both know I had no choice." Ruby's voice sounded out monotonically from her head's perch on Blake's shoulder. Her arms, resting lightly on Blake's waist, squeezed in warm reassurance.

The slowly disintegrating body of a Primordial lay strewn across the outer edges of the city.

It wasn't the only cost the High Commander had paid during the war.

At the sound of Ruby's hollow voice, Blake only collapsed further into choked sobs, finally given the opportunity to let her sorrow out. Her flower would never be the same. She had suffered tremendously at the hands of the Queen and her dogs of war, the White Fang.

Ruby only tightened her hold around Blake and held her as she released all the pent up anger and grief held within her.

"Let it out. No one's left to judge you anymore." She droned. Her dark humor did not go unnoticed. Yang and Weiss let out chuckles as Blake attempted to do the same through her sobs. Her failure resulting in hysterical hiccups.

"Glad to see you can still joke Ruby." Weiss said as she wrapped her arms around Yang's neck, further burrowing into the hollow of her shoulder. Yang immediately responded in kind and folded her arms around her snowflake's waist, where cool metal and warm flesh met behind the heiress' back and pinned her against her body's warmth.

"I could never steal Yang's job away from her." Ruby replied to one of her sisters. "She's _armed_ with the best of them." Her lone eye briefly lit up in mirth before falling flat.

"Ha Ha Rubes. Arm jokes. Keep 'em coming" Yang mocked Ruby in her own brand of monotone. A dull pain echoed up Yang's spine, a reminder of her second greatest mistake on the battlefield. A petite hand rose up and caressed the meeting point of tungsten carbide and hardened muscle, marveling at the feat of engineering attached to her partner's shoulder.

Yang had lost her arm in the opening salvo of the war.

The Battle of Beacon was what the Hunters called it. A massive display of power and resources by the White Fang up against the headquarters of Vale's Hunters. An array of bullheads and a plethora of Grimm, ranging from the common Beowolf to the elusive Geist.

A battle it was not.

It was a full scale retreat.

Ruby could only slightly grin back at her.

In that one moment, the absolute armageddon brewing behind them was forgotten. One moment of family.

Their little family was perfect, at least to all of them. The fact they were all technically a family by law only compounded it further. Well, whatever law actually existed at the time, and considering the ruling government lay in shambles underneath them, then there wasn't any.

"No point in crying." Ruby intoned as she gazed at her beautiful kitten. "There's nothing to cry over anymore." Ruby only tightened her hold around Blake further before Blake broke the hug and gazed at Weiss pointedly.

Weiss knew very well what the gaze meant. Ruby's words to Blake only further added to Blake's look towards Weiss. Weiss only nodded her head from her position on Yang's shoulder. Blake smiled softly before sitting down on the ground, dragging her Rose with her. Weiss and Yang followed suit as Weiss crawled into Yang's lap.

They all stoically watched as Vale burned.

"Blake." Weiss tiredly slurred as the events of the day caught up with her, "The plan's set, the calculations are as perfect as I can get them. All that's left is to make our way into Beacon and we can all finally put this nightmare…behind us." An undignified yawn tore from Weiss' throat before she nuzzled back into her spot as Yang began to run her fingers through her hair.

Blake clicked her tongue in lazy contentment as she moved to rest her head on Ruby's lap, eyes closing as Ruby ran her fingers through midnight hair, gently brushing across feline ears twitching idly in the breeze. Playful fingers gently rubbed and scratched Blake's ears, drawing a raspy purr from within the woman's chest.

A single hand continued to play with Blake's ears, twiddling each between her fingers. A restless second hand drifted to her kitten's cheek, caressing with the back of her hand. A content smile broke across the assassin's face. Blake pressed a soft kiss on the hand's knuckles as they passed in front of her lips.

The hand continued to travel down, towards a place marked by pain for the both of them. A thin red scar met the traveling hand, causing it to stop. Two fingers walked along the clean laceration, marking the divide between head and neck. A shuddered breath escaped from parted lips as the caress of her lover traced out hard memories.

Slitted eyes pried apart to stare at the superfluity of hydrogen burning millions of lightyears away from their planet. Pupils shrunk in response to resounding roars as the duo of Primordials descended on the city from their lofty perch above. Armored bodies crashed through buildings, taking them down into the deep trenches further carved by their flight. Wings of pure darkness buffeted the nearby countryside trees, sending the heaviest flying and the weak bending. Columns of hellfire smelt metal and torched any remaining plant life.

Team RWBY, sans their fearless leader, flinched as another reverberating shriek marked their ascent back into the skies. Silver followed their return to their loft, before returning to its rightful spot gazing upon her kitten's face. Her thumb traced along Blake's hairline while her fingers disappeared into raven tresses.

A gentle nudge pulled Ruby's eye away from the carnage unfolding in front of her. A croak emanating from torn vocal cords brought Ruby's attention back to the injury. Fingers danced lightly across the scarred flesh, avoiding putting pressure on the healed wound. She had barely survived the injury to begin with. There was no point in tempting fate.

"I'm sorry." A whisper rumbled out from ragged lips. "I'm sorry I can tell you I love you, but you can't do the same for me." Blake reached for the hand tangled in strands of black, brought it to her lips and pressed a chaste kiss to the back of worn fingers. A choked hum told Ruby all she needed.

"I know, I know." She murmured in reply. Slitted eyes closed in mutual understanding.

The war had left their marks on each and every member of Team RWBY. The one member who sustained the least amount of fatal injuries sat comfortably nestled in her yellow personal heater.

The only scars on her body were displayed proudly across her face. A smaller, thinner, and cleaner scar received from a dance with a giant suit of armour possessed by a Geist bridged over her left eye. Directly in front of it, innocent white skin melded harshly into faded red and pasty white. The scar, twice in width as its nearby brother, ran vertically from its starting place under her eye, coloured red with pain, and shifted into bone at the edge of her jaw. Scant millimeters of skin separated open air and the inside of her mouth.

"How long has it been Weiss?" Ruby's monotone sailed to the white girl burrowed in her sister's assets.

"How long has it been since what?" Weiss replied without even cracking open her eyes, too wrapped up in the warmth surrounding her to bother.

"Since we last saw our home." The measured reply struck chords of melancholy in the remaining members of Team RWBY.

Their home wasn't the sisters' house on Patch, nor was it Mountain Glenn, salvaged as their base, nor was it Schnee Castle, tucked into mountain and shielded by clouds.

It was Beacon Academy. Even sitting on the edge of it stirred memories. The crumbling silhouette of Beacon's CCTS tower elicited memories best forgotten, of the beginning of the nightmare they walked in.

"It's been over three winters Ruby." Ice blue eyes cracked open, lost within thoughts and memories.

Silence reigned in the small clearing they sat in. Gusts of wind, courtesy of the fiends gliding above, tousled hair and plant life alike.

"Has it really?" Yang's voice quietly broke the distant thrum of wings. "It feels like we've been trapped in this world forever.

"Hey." A pale hand, comfortably curled against ample bosom, rose from its position and ran a finger along Yang's jaw, angling her head down to the girl held within her arms. "Remember that you're trapped in this world with me."

A merry laugh lifted the somber mood.

"Yes, I guess it isn't too bad if I'm stuck here with you." She pressed a quick kiss on her snowflake's forehead. Weiss' face immediately broke out in a grin. Even after a couple of years of their relationship, small signs of genuine affection always made her feel warm inside.

"Of course it isn't. Who else would keep you warm at night?" A smirk began to grow on Weiss' face, waiting for Yang to fall into her trap.

"I think you're mistaking who keep whom warm at night. I certainly don't need you in my bed stealing all of my warmth, Miss Ice Princess." Yang replied haughtily.

"Oh~. You don't want me in your bed?" The jaws of her trap snapped close. "Who else is going to reenact your favorite scenes from Icha Icha?" Yang's face took on the hue of a ripe cherry.

Their relationship had done Weiss good. She crawled out from the shell her father and mother shoved her into and blossomed into a fierce woman. Her passionate love for Yang and her adoptive family greatly made up for her short stature.

"Oh my firefly." Her joyous mirth sang into the heavens. "After all these years, you're still so easy to tease. You, the crowned queen of flirt, who terrorised the male population of Beacon with unrelenting innuendo and teases."

"Yeah~?" Yang having cooled down drastically from Weiss' initial assault responded. "And which one of us wears nothing but a sports bra underneath a bolero, constantly flashing me with her tight, delicious, toned abs all the damn time?

Weiss released a sharp squeal of surprise as Yang's dextrous fingers glided down the sides of her body and attacked her waist, sending pulses of tantalising heat through the palms of her hand. Weiss, having recovered sufficiently from Yang's assault simply smiled, tightened her hold around Yang's neck and buried her face into it, having achieved her plan. Yang could feel her amusement.

A couple of meters away sat the red and black members of the team, smiling serenely at the antics of their sisters. Ruby's hand continued to tangle itself in midnight and dance along feline ears, which wiggled in amusement at the sounds made by the other half of their family.

A crash of stone and metal reminded them of the chaos churning in the background.

"I think this was your plan all along." Yang accused her beautiful wife.

"Which plan? The one where I get more snuggles from you?" An impish smile dared Yang on.

"Yes, but also your Oum damned plan to wear that brilliantly short blazer to constantly tease me."

"Yang." Her voice dropped into a sultry whisper. "If I really wanted to tease you, I'd still be wearing the dress I wore in Beacon, you know, the one that showed off my legs?."

"I know very well you still have several of those dresses tucked away seeing as you haven't grown a single fucking centimeter since we met. Even Ruby's managed to grow even with Blake." Yang teased in return.

It was Weiss' one weakness and Yang would abuse it until the end of time. Four years since the team was created and Weiss hadn't grown at all, remaining permanently stuck in the short zone.

"Hey-!"

Weiss' retort was cut short.

"I like you short. It means you fit nicely under my chin." Her placating voice always drowned out any insecurities Weiss' still held.

"I always did like being the little spoon. Maybe it was for the best." An exasperated sigh escaped from her lips, but the bright glint in her eyes told Yang what she needed.

"I know you do snowflake. I've always loved being your big spoon, especially since you cut your mane of hair down to size." She ran her hand up the base of Weiss' neck, splaying her fingers wide as they rooted in white. "Your hair was longer than mine, even when tied up in your bun ponytail combo thing."

"It does make mornings a lot more manageable." She agreed wholeheartedly.

"It also gives you more time to brush my hair." Yang absolutely loved it when Weiss played with her hair. She turned to absolute putty in the princess' hands.

Yang, unlike her wife, had stubbornly refused to cut her hair. Not even a direct order from Ruby had caused the girl to blink. Weiss had stood steadfast by Yang's side, claiming the morning ritual of brushing Yang's hair calmed them both down.

Knowing calm and stress relief was a much needed commodity during war, Ruby agreed to a compromise. Yang would have to cut her hair, but not down to the regulation short the rest of Team RWBY shared. She would have to wear her hair in a permanent ponytail on the field, and the end length of the ponytail had to just touch the tips of her shoulders. It was a compromise which left the couple happy, and let Ruby take a breather, knowing Yang's hair had a lower chance of getting snagged by a passing Griffon or erant White Fang member.

The team already knew the dangers of loose clothing, or in this case, hair.

"You know how much I enjoy brushing your hair in the mornings. Makes me wish I hadn't cut my hair so short in the first place." Weiss began to measure the length of her hair, stretching out the strands until they tickled her chin.

"I just think it makes you look cuter." She pressed a kiss to Weiss' nose, causing it to scrunch up in minute irritation. "Makes you look like a pixie." She amended her statement as Weiss' glared at her with glacial irises. "But you're my pixie."

The added revision dimmed the glare of Weiss' eyes.

"Then by that same logic, both Ruby and Blake are pixies." Weiss teased her commander and her other sister, eying the resting duo from her peripheral.

Ruby shook her head in minor amusement while Blake had no choice but to accept it silently. She instead lifted her head from Ruby's lap and sent them a scowl of pure molten gold, which no mortal man should have escaped unharmed.

"I don't think Blake shares our sentiments." Weiss chuckled as Yang averted her eyes from Blake.

"Then she's a puma. Wild, untamed and fierce with a shimmering mane of dusk."

Out of the corner of her eye, Blake's glare diminished and she returned to having Ruby pet her.

"Didn't think you could be so eloquent." Weiss' teasing sprung back in full effect.

"I guess she likes it. You can even say she _cat_ get enough of it. Do you think she's _feline_ the comparison?" Yang's shit eating grin could have lit up a nest of Grimm.

She would have continued with the puns if Blake hadn't chucked Gambol Shroud at her head resulting in a loud thunk as it impacted her head. How she managed it from her resting position on Ruby, turned away from them, was a secret the assassin would take to her grave.

"You're sleeping on the couch for those puns." Weiss deadpanned.

"We don't even have a couch Weissy." Yang countered. Her hands buried in her hair, massaging the growing bruise from Gambol Shroud's impact.

"If we did, you'd be sleeping there."

"Good luck sleeping without your personal heater then." Yang got the last word in, knowing full well Weiss couldn't sleep without her, outright complaining of freezing bedrooms even though she had grown up in Atlas. Yang simply took it as her excuse to cuddle with her, and never once complained about it.

"Speaking of much needed warmth, I think Rubes might need some." Yang gestured, tilting her head towards the quiet couple sitting in front of them.

In the dark twilight surrounding them, the glowing embers of Vale provided a stunning backdrop to the silhouette of the two partners, one resting against the other and the other watching the enfolding destruction. A single tear, the first in many years, rolled from a silver eye and descended down a porcelain cheek.

"She's freezing out here." Weiss quietly commented. Even in the darkness, the fine hairs and goosebumps along her arms stood prominent against the orange glow. The fires smouldering underneath them did nothing to stave away the chill of an early spring night.

"Come." Yang nudged Weiss to stand from her lap. Weiss turned and with a heavy tug pulled Yang to her feet. Yang took Weiss' hand and proceeded to walk the short distance to her sisters.

"Ruby." Yang placed a hand on her shoulder. Ruby turned her head, gazing at her sister's darkened form. "You're freezing."

"Am I?" A tone tinged with confusion questioned Yang. Yang gestured to Ruby's arms. She raised her hand, leveling it at her eye. Her sister was right. She was cold.

"I didn't even notice." Rose barely whispered against the wind. A blast of wind roared up the sides of the cliff, sending shivers up Ruby's back. Her hands abandoned her duty towards Blake and rubbed her arms, slowly sending warmth to constricted blood vessels.

"Makes you wish you had the cloak, doesn't it." Yang consoled her youngest sister. The topic of her cloak was always a sensitive one.

"No. It doesn't." A hollow voice answered her back. "It makes me much more grateful for the walking fire I have as a sister."

Ruby's cloak was a sore topic even two years after its near destruction. The body of the cloak resembled tassels more so than it resembled a continuous stretch of fabric. Ruby nearly lost her life because of it, and she would never wear it again. The only reason she hadn't tossed the tattered cloth away was because of the sentimental bond it represented with her mother. How her mother managed to fight and live to see Ruby's birth in the deathtrap still amazed her.

"I swear this team abuses my ability to generate heat." Yang sweatdrop before setting herself on fire, sending a blast of hot air radiating around the cliff edge. She didn't even notice the dip in her Aura.

"And we all love you for it." Weiss stated as she bound up Yang's back, forcing the larger girl to grip her thighs to prevent her from sliding off. A sharp grunt was the reward Weiss received for her effort.

"Watch it." Yang glared at the urchin attached to her back, or tried to seeing as she couldn't turn her neck fully towards her.

"Your little fire show can't hurt me." Weiss replied as she tightened her hold around Yang's neck, burying her face in a golden tresses.

"Still. Give me a warning next time." She chastised as the last of her flames licked the air around her.

"Spoilsport." Weiss harrumphed, clearly already scheming another ambush on her lover.

The interaction between the two had the benefit of waking Blake from the limbo of a nap she had slipped into. Unfocused eyes creaked open to reveal black pupils stretched to the limit, leaving nothing but slivers of gold surrounding them.

"Nice _cat_ nap?" The predictable jibe caused Blake and Weiss to roll their eyes. Blake arched her back and flung her arms above her head, working out the small kinks accumulated in her body from said cat nap. A hand returned from its wayward journey and landed on Ruby's cheek, cupping it. Blake lifted herself, angling a peck at Ruby's lips on her way up, before twisting herself to a standing position.

Ruby's lips twitched before she slowly twirling her way up from her sitting position to face her team.

"Time to go Ruby." Yang gently insisted as she turned to walk towards the school, still carrying Weiss on her back.

"No." Ruby turned once more towards her city, feeling a wave of heat blast away any trace of her one solitary tear.

"Ruby." Weiss pressed on. "We're going. You have to let it go eventually. You couldn't do anything." Weiss' voice rose in volume, causing Blake's ears to turn away in annoyance.

"Not yet." Ruby turned from the scene of fire and walked away from it. Upon passing the perched Weiss, her finger rose up, silencing her rebuke. An unwavering silver eye promised pain if Weiss continued to argue on. The pain wouldn't be the kind she enjoyed. Weiss wisely kept quiet.

Cutting through her team, she marched towards the aircraft parked in a clearing. Her team, with Weiss descending from her spot, followed at a sedated pace, wondering what their leader was up to.

A pneumatic hiss signaled the opening of their VTOL's rear hatch. Ruby patiently waited for the ramp to touch the ground before diving into the fuselage. Muttered expletives flew from the craft as she most likely smashed her head on the overhead compartments, or tripped, or continued to fail to find whatever it was she was looking her.

"Found it yet?" Yang's voice broke the line of curses flying through the air. The girl knew a hell of a lot of curses. Ohh. That was a new one.

"Aye. It was hanging on the back of the pilot seat." Ruby strolled out of the craft carrying a bundle of red draped over her arms.

"Huh. I here I thought you were searching for my porn." Yang's sight never left the red fabric as Ruby carried it to the edge of the cliff.

"I found that long ago. It's under the pilot's seat. Not really subtle." Ruby answered deftly.

"Where else am I supposed to hide it?" Yang retorted, quite obviously upset Ruby knew of the hiding spot. "There's nowhere else to hide it on Serenity."

"You haven't found Blake's or my stash yet. Considering collectively it's nearly double yours, then I'm assuming you missed something." Ruby deadpanned back in amusement.

"It's MY ship. How the fuck did I miss your stashes?" Yang nearly yelled, her mind working the memorized schematics of Serenity in her head.

"Not telling." Ruby replied, shutting down the topic. "Now get over her and light this for me." Ruby unfurled her package revealing the tattered remains of her cloak. The gentle breeze ruffled through the holes of the cloak causing it to dance.

"Why?" Yang's puzzled response indicated she missed a large development in Ruby's psyche. "You've carried the damn thing around for so long, even after its destruction. Why now?"

"To remember why we're here in the first place." Ruby's solemn statement sent the clearing tumbling into silence. Even the beasts above granted a brief reprieve to their destruction and noise. "To prevent the mistakes we all made."

Yang's gulp echoed across the silent clearing.

"Yang, I forgave you a long time ago. I forgave you the moment Blake pulled me out and returned me to you" Ruby replied in deadpan.

"How?" Yang's voice trembled and threatened to break. "How can you forgive me for failing you, for failing to do the one fucking job you trusted me with." Her voice took on an edge, the raging inferno of her personality beating her down for her mistake.

"Yang, did you try to save me? Or did you simply let me go?" Ruby prodded her, already knowing the answer to her own question.

"Of course I didn't! How could you-" Yang's response cut short in favor of Ruby.

"Do you know how much it pains me to give that order Yang? The one time I've given the order, I've not only had to deal with a potential widow, but also with my own guilt. I'm was overjoyed when you failed with that order; that you came back."

Ruby was immediately bowled over by her biological sister and nearly squeezed to death.

"That was the most inflection I've heard in your voice in over two years. Maybe I shouldn't follow orders at all." Yang happily chirped, glad her sister forgave her for her biggest fuck up.

"If you were better at following order I could have had a threesome with a grieving widow." Yang couldn't tell if she was joking, so she ignored it.

"Ruby. " Yang sobered up from her happiness. "You could give me the order now and I could go into the city and end all of this." She was intent on carrying out the order to completion this time.

"And do what exactly?" Weiss' growl grated on everyone's ears, flattening Blake's to her hair. "Blow yourself, the city, and half the continent away?"

"It would get rid of the Primordials at least." Yang countered her irate wife. "What is my life in the grand scale of things?"

"Yang! I love you, you dolt! You are MY grand scale of things and you are never leaving me. Got it?" Weiss heatedly glared at Yang. It was hilarious to watch seeing as Weiss was almost a head shorter than her spouse. Yang cowered under the glare, shrinking down to match Weiss in height.

"And here I thought 'dolt' was exclusively used to address me." Ruby remarked in fake sorrow.

"Shut up dolt." No points for guessing the identity of the speaker.

"Besides, killing the flying behemoths wouldn't work." Ruby watched as said tanks dove towards her city, ripping it to pieces. "Your Semblance might be able to get rid of these two, but the problem would remain. The remaining three city states would be unprotected and the Queen would still be alive."

"It's pretty hard killing a god Rubles."

"I'll give it my best shot." A rapturous smirk led the rest of the team to believe their leader was running through several plans in her head, all of which involved painting a room a deep crimson, and then flooding it with the remainder of paint. A haunting chuckle reverberated around them.

"And she's gone." Weiss sighed in exasperation. "That's the first time in nearly four lunar cycles."

"At least it's not a daily occurrence anymore. She's been getting better." Yang chastised her. "She isn't completely insane anymore."

"I'm pretty sure all of her plans involve high levels of controlled maiming."

"As opposed to the _regular_ maiming we _regularly_ perform?" A golden eyebrow raised in question.

"We don't do it expecting our enemies to survive. Hence controlled."

"Point. Well at least she's not doing it to us. She loves all of us, but not more than Blakey over there." Yang crushed Weiss in a hug, leaving the smaller girl making the best of the limited oxygen her lungs could pull in.

Their elusive teammate stood in the darkness, the shadows clinging to her body shrouding her from untrained eyes. Two golden orbs rippled in sorrow as she watched her lover spiral into madness.

Silent footfalls traced the living shadow's approach to her rose. Ironic it would be for a shadow to protect a rose from her own madness. The shadow wrapped around the rose, bringing a semblance of peace to the mind trapped within. It stayed coiled around the rose for several minutes, slowly encouraging the rose to bloom.

The pair of snowflake and firefly watched the scene, knowing only Blake stood even a chance of pulling Rose out from the depths of her shattered mind. Wisps of fire danced along the firefly's fingertips, bringing light to the darkened clearing.

A crazed eye drained back into vacancy, signalling Ruby's recovery from her psychosis.

"Thank you." Ruby's voice cracked in the aftermath. "Thank you for being there for me."

Ruby had accepted the fragile state of her mind. After the incident, the slightest prod had sent her spiralling into hell. It was only after several years, and the constant love and protection offered by her family, she was able to reign in the worst of it. While the frequency of her bouts had decreased, it was unlikely she would ever fully recover.

"Yang, I still need you to burn this." Ruby extended the tattered cloak towards Yang.

"Are you sure? I know what it means to you."

"It's time I let go of the past and look towards the future. What happened in our pasts can't be changed. What can be changed is the world around us."

Yang smiled in agreement, grabbed Weiss' hand and moved to stand beside her sister. A warm hand grasped the cloak and an ember started the release of a shared painful memory.

When the cloak was halfway lit, Yang released it to the wind. It fluttered away from the cliffside, pieces of flaming fabric separating from the main body and spreading out. Team RWBY traced the cloak's fall down to the tranquil waters of Vale's lake.

"Now we can go Weiss." Ruby turned from their greatest failure and began her sedated walk to their aircraft.

Night had quickly enveloped the remaining sky. The only light remaining was lost over the top of the cliff as the city burned away. A shattered moon cut through the void of the sky.

The team maneuvered with practiced ease in the complete darkness. The distance was short and probably could be traversed blind, but they let Blake lead them. What would be the point of having biological night vision on the team if you didn't exploit it. Rocks and roots became mere annoyances as the trailing members copied Blake's silhouette.

Breaking the line of trees and stepping into the clearing revealed Serenity in all her glory. A marvel of Yang's engineering and Weiss' design made Serenity the pride of the Hunter fleet. Now it remained as the only serviceable ship for the Hunters. The remainder of their fleet was scattered around the countryside and within the city, in varying states of destruction, be it melted to slag, torn to smithereens or simply crashed.

Powerful flood lights emanating from the still opened hatch revealed the clearing in varying shades of evergreen.

"Now boarding Yang Airlines from Beacon's cliffs to Beacon's landing platforms. Estimated travel time is approximately one minute." Yang parodied her usual pre-flight greeting as the team stepped into the craft. Ruby palmed the rear hatch button as Yang made her way to the cockpit, before grabbing an overhead strap.

"Last ride on the ship Weiss. Any words?" Ruby asked her. The monotone made the question sound more of a statement than an inquiry of opinion.

"I'll miss this heap of bolts. It served us well." Weiss rubbed her hand along the walls of the ship, taking in the ship Yang and her had built for the last time.

"Watch what you're calling a heap of bolts." Yang called out from the cockpit. "This is the only child you're getting from me."

"I'm sure they'll be more children on the way Yang. We'll just have to create them together." Weiss smiled, concocting more children they could construct together. Maybe a copy of Bumblebee for Ruby and Blake.

As Yang ran through her preflight checklist, Ruby grew tired of watching Blake and moved to her side, pulling her into her. The day had been tiring, and the most energy consuming part lay before them.

"In hindsight, we could have simply walked to the courtyard. It's not that far." Blake slapped Ruby across the chest before running through a series of handsigns.

"I wouldn't want to deprive Yang from being able to pilot Serenity for a last time either. I'll let her have her final moments with her child."

Weiss mouthed a silent thank you to her sister, as she stood up and made her way to Ruby's other side, snuggling in comfortably.

The increasing hum of the rotors marked the ignition sequence of Serenity. A gentle jolt sent her into a hover. It seemed Yang was going to milk all the time she had left with her, not even activating the forward thrusters. No one would blame her. The ship had got them through a hell of a lot of tough times.

Weiss and Blake idly wiggled in Ruby's embrace, looking for an elusive comfortable position.

"How did I end up in the middle here." Ruby's thoughts wandered out of her brain. She tightened her hold on the monochrome duo.

"You're the boss Ruby. You're suppose to take care of us. And if that includes snuggles, then you must supply snuggles." Weiss' muffled voice sounded from Ruby's shoulder.

Blake nuzzled her head into Ruby's other shoulder, begging to be pet.

"You're only using me until Yang stops piloting. I feel hurt." Ruby's hand started to pet Blake's head, running through black locks and ears alike.

"Love you too sis. You could never deny cuddles from me."

"I feel like the older sister, or mother."

"At least you love me Ruby. My mother never did."

A grim silence descended in the fuselage. Team RWBY was the only family Weiss had left. It was the only family they all had left, and they would annihilate anyone who threatened them.

A hand made it's way up Weiss' back, around her body, and cupped her head, pressing her further into the hand's owner.

The trio enjoyed the silence, each member reminiscing the better times they shared together. Ruby's calloused hands threaded through white and black, massaging out troubled memories.

A sudden change in acceleration told them their journey was coming to an end.

"Now arriving at Beacon. Thank you for choosing Yang Airlines. We know you had no choice, but we still appreciate it." A chipper voice rang out from the cockpit.

The soft thunder of rubber on stone resounded in the ruins.

Ruby dragged Weiss and Blake up from their slumber. They stumbled as synchronised drunks, blinking away sleep and waking up numb limbs. Ruby was a comfortable pillow.

A release of air lowered the rear hatch, giving Team RWBY their first view of their home in over three winters.

"It's still as beautiful as I remember it to be." Weiss voiced everyone's thoughts.

"Grab your essentials. Leave everything else alone. Your porn is not essential Weiss." Ruby cut off Weiss' immediate question. The girl pouted. "Grab your packs. That's it. We're not going to risk overloading Weiss' glyph.

Each member quickly grabbed their respective packs and slung them over their shoulders.

"That's it then. Lock her up Yang." Ruby walked down the ramp of Serenity. It would be the last time she saw her. Weiss and Blake followed her. They made it mere meters before the distinct lack of a fourth set of feet on pavement caused them to stop and turn towards their lagging teammate.

She stood on the top of the ramp, pack at her feet, unwilling to step forward off of the airship she painstakingly created, constantly repaired, and doted upon. She wasn't willing to give up her only child.

"Go to her." Ruby's barely audible whisper reached Weiss's ears. "She needs you." Weiss quickly broke from their group and nearly sprinted towards the ship before leaping into Yang's arms just shy of the ramp, taking the blonde by surprise.

"Wha-?" The sudden impact of a white blur sent them both rolling back into the ship. "What have I told you about jumping on me?" Yang exasperatedly whined after realizing who could have possibly tackled her.

"To not do it again." A cheeky smirk broke across Weiss' face. "I simply chose to ignore you. It's much more fun to jump you."

"What am I going to do with you?" The silence was her answer. "What am I going to do without my ship?"

"You'll move on. I already promised we'd create another one."

"I know." A trembling sigh passed between parted lips. "But she's our first."

"Then we'll just have to recreate her just as magnificently as we created her the first time."

A gleaming smile cracked across the blonde's face. "I'll hold you to that promise."

"Now, get up before Ruby gets angry at us."

"She's emotionally incapable of getting angry."

"Maybe I can't but I can fake it well enough." Ruby's droll tumbled in from outside.

"Love you Ruby!" Their combined voices sailed out of the ship.

"Now get off of me before Ruby decides to show us some of that anger." Yang bucked her hips and wiggled underneath her little hellion.

"I didn't think I'd see the day you wanted me to get off of you." A suggestive wiggle of her hips answered Yang's own. A more pronounced buck told Weiss she was serious. "Fine, be a spoilsport."

Weiss got off of Yang with a deep frown etched on her face, before reaching down and heaving Yang to her feet.

"We have to go. Say your goodbye firefly." Yang ran her hand along the seal of the rear hatch, reminiscing their shared good times.

"Goodbye Serenity." A pent up sigh left her lips, coming to terms with having to leave her child behind.

Stepping off of Serenity's ramp with Weiss next to her, she turned, bent down and pressed the exterior close button on the side of the ramp. The ship's ramp closed slowly, almost reluctant to leave its team behind. A final thud locked Serenity forever.

Seeing the pair make their peace, Ruby and Blake turned and began the short stroll, with Yang and Weiss following, to the courtyard. The landing platforms weren't too far from the school after all. Heavy packs weighed down each member of the team. Necessities such as extra clothes, ammunition, dust cartridges, and data chips filled every crevice of the packs.

Cracked pavement, bent lampposts and shattered archways littered the landscape around them. Beacon never recovered after the White Fang's immense assault on it. The once proud and exalted school for Hunters lay desolate and in ruins.

Marks of fallen Grimm stained the ground black. The monstrous carnage of a battle past was evident. Meters of unblemished ground didn't exist around the school. The bodies of Atlesian Knights rested on top of one another, nothing but fodder in a war of humans and Grimm. Dismembered Paladins spread across the landscape.

Husks of wrecked bullheads and airships lay strewn from the cliffs to the inner halls. An Atlesian Command Airship rested upside down on the southern bank, relatively intact save for the crater of the hole punched through its bridge. Ruby's handiwork.

Images of the battle flashed through Team RWBY's minds. Images of blood, metal and Grimm melded seamlessly into a gruesome movie they hoped they never had to watch again. The deaths of their comrades were brought fresh to their minds. Yet this battle paled in comparison to the assault Salem had tossed on them hours previous.

Entering the courtyard, their eyes were immediately drawn to the broken statue at the center. The statue once stood for the strength and constant presence of the Hunters in the Kingdom of Vale.

Apt.

The Battle of Beacon started their downfall.

Battle by battle, team by team, the Hunters were picked off. No longer able to fight without casualties.

While Vale created the best Hunters on Remnant, it was Atlas which boasted the largest military. Atlas acted as Remnant's military force. The other three city states used Atlas's Knights to patrol their borders. It saved the city state's Hunter's from having to perform patrols, allowing them to be used for more practical purposes.

Atlas's military was their downfall.

Cinder's virus had been their downfall. Quality usually trumped quantity, but not when the odds were skewed vastly against their favor. Ten to one, easy. Hundred to one, harder. Thousand to one, good luck.

By the time the droids could be destroyed, public opinion was so skewed against Atlas, Vale was forced to declare war for the slight. Three bitter years of conflict until all hell broke loose.

The Primordials came through from Salem's pocket dimension.

Vale fell.

The rest of Remnant would follow.

"Let's get this over with." Ruby broke the eerie silence draped upon them. "You ready to do this Weiss?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Her voice rang true, projecting her confidence to the rest of the team.

"Yang?"

"Good to go." She pounded her fists together, sending sparks flying.

"Blake?"

A sublime smile and a nod was her answer.

A colossal glyph began to grow out for Weiss' feet, encompassing them and the entirety of the courtyard. The usual snowflake was replaced by a more intricate cousin. A six point fractal spread the radius of the glyph and recursed into infinitely smaller versions of itself; becoming infinitely stronger with each completed fractal.

Immediately upon the completion of the glyph, Ruby began to channel her Semblance into Yang, who also began to channel her Semblance, taking Ruby's aura and the natural aura around her before passing both into the glyph underneath them.

The glyph began to increasingly glow as it continually received aura from the aura manipulator.

Beads of sweat coalesced along Yang's forehead as the toll of manipulating and funneling massive amounts of aura mounted. Weiss' eyes snapped shut in concentration as she further spiraled the fractal to oblivion, further stabilising the glyph. While her glyphs possessed inherent stability from the nature of fractals, she had to continually concentrate on its infinite construction, and the amount of aura being channeled.

Her standard glyphs relied on simpler fractals and less aura, letting her more easily create and manipulate them.

The nature of this particular glyph relied on a vast amount of aura. Ignoring the laws of spacetime wasn't a simple task.

Ruby stood steadfast, channeling aura into her sister as if it was nothing but a menial task for her. Channeling her Semblance became easier once at its terminal velocity. It was the acceleration which taxed her reserves the most.

Blake on the other hand, looked on in rapt boredom, idly tapping her fingers on her tricep. She didn't have a job in all this, and didn't feel slighted. No work suited her just fine. Lazy cat.

A sharp intake of air from Weiss signaled the glyph had reached the desired aura intake.

Steeling herself, Weiss released the glyph's hold on their plane.

In a flash and sharp crack of sonoluminescence, Team RWBY disappeared from reality.

Disappeared back to day their nightmare started.

Back to the Battle of Beacon.

* * *

Author's Note: This will most likely be the only author's note for this fanfiction. Every single chapter I write is poured over the course of several weeks and are usually free of plot holes. Your only warning is this: Look underneath the underneath.

Regards: Bloodrose

Edit: Sept. 27th 2017: Minor grammatical fixes, fixed a plot hole, changes a few lines and word, omitted some others.


	2. Two - Divergence

Chapter 2

* * *

 **Divergence**

* * *

 _Beacon Academy_

Evacuations usually ground to a halt at the slightest hint of a problem.

This one wouldn't be the exception.

The several thousand civilians attending the Vytal Festival needed a prompt escape from Amity Colosseum which had been overrun in the matter of minutes by a host of flying Grimm. Hunters had turned the docks of the colosseum into a shooting range as Nevermore and Griffon fell to their accurate snipes.

The story on the ground wasn't any prettier. While the borders of Vale remained intact, dozens of districts had been infiltrated with Grimm, courtesy of the Dragon soaring overhead. The small Grimm decimated the streets, causing people to take shelter on the roofs.

The upper echelons of the Hunters were split among these districts, eradicating each Grimm with prejudice and protecting the people they were sworn to.

The lower echelons were in charge of evacuating the colosseum and school.

If only the job remained so simple.

Minutes after the assault onto Amity started, the White Fang landed a vanguard of Grimm and Paladin on the school's platforms, splitting the Hunter's attention between the evacuation and the sieging Grimm.

Atlas' Knights helped greatly. The sheer number of guns thinned the Grimm to a more manageable number. They weren't perfect as many would simply break under the monstrous strength of them, but they got the job done.

Then the slightly more difficult job turned to hell as the Knights turned on the Hunters.

Weiss flew between the ranks of the Knights, slashing and disarming one row before bouncing off a glyph and repeating the process to the next. Landing, she parried a Knight's blow, planted her feet on its chest, sending it backwards with a glyph while she backflipped away to help Blake.

Under her, Blake fought her old organization. Cutting a member across his chest, she caught a punch and let her clone take it. White Fang members swarmed her as she landed but were blown back by the descending heiress.

The battles around them weren't going as well.

To their left, a Paladin brushed aside several Atlesian soldiers as they attempted to bring their own military's mech down. As they moved to assist, a bullhead with a flaming engine careened towards the school, releasing an Alpha as it descended.

They had to separate.

"Be safe." A nod later and Weiss ran off to help the soldiers.

As she did, Blake jogged towards the crash site of the bullhead, looking around for the Alpha.

Her path was littered with the rubble of the dining hall. A climbing Beowolf ripped chunks of the ramparts on its wayward journey. Glass lay shattered under each window, the unfortunate effect of heavy objects colliding with the wooden muntin.

The dining hall was in shambles. Table legs, broken from their tops, were strewn across the inside. Splitters, embedded in the floor created, miniature spike fields. Flames lapped at the walls, curling wallpaper and charring ancient wood.

A presence within cause her to freeze.

"Hello my love." A baritone slithered out through empty windows. It was a voice she'd never forget.

"Adam." A breathless gasp escaped her. Golden eyes widened in fear, gazing upon a relic of her past she hoped to never see again. It was a fool's hope.

"Running away again?" She took a step back in sheer disbelief. "Is that what you've become my love, a coward?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"You and I were going to change the world, remember? We were destined to light the fires of revolution!" Adam stepped forward and planted his foot on a crippled civilian's chest. "Consider this, the spark."

He drew Wilt from his side, holding it pointed downward, directly at his victim's throat. His intentions couldn't be more abundantly clear.

He couldn't swing his chokutō further; Gambol Shroud intercepted it. Red eyes glared out from behind a slitted Grimm mask.

"I'm not running." Sparks flew as the two weapons clashed and struggled against one another.

"You will." Adam raised his foot again, planting it on her face, sending her rolling into the crumbling walls of the hall. A Creep attempted to gouge Blake before being put down with a single round from Blush. "But not before you suffer for your betrayal, my love."

"This could have been our day, can't you see that?" His incensed voice belied his actions as he sheathed Wilt.

"I never wanted this!" She knelt from her position on the ground, transforming Gambol into its ranged mode. "I wanted equality. I wanted peace!"

"What you want…" He partially drew Wilt out of her sheath as Blake fired three shots at him, splitting them in two as they passed the blade's edge. "...is impossible."

He again sheathed his blade, stepped into Blake and bitch slapped her. She was getting tired becoming this intimate with the ground.

"But I understand, because all I want is you Blake." She cocked Gambol in a futile attempt to harm him. As she did, he roughly kicked the weapon, sending it flying out of her reach. The kick sent her flat; spread eagle across the stone floor.

"And as I set out upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love." He crouched at her side, invading her personal space deeply.

"BLAKE!" Yang's voice echoed from outside as she pumped a shotgun shell into a White Fang member's head. He'd probably survive. With a severe case of brain damage. "Where are you?"

Yang's voice brought Adam's attention to her. She obviously meant something to Blake, as she nominally shook her head at him.

"Starting with her."

A smug smile made its way across his face. He stood, drew Wilt with practised ease and drove it through Blake's abdomen, eliciting a cry of pain from the downed feline.

The cry drew Yang's attention to them.

"Huh?" She watched as an unknown red-haired man in a trench coat savagely ripped a chokutō from her partner's gut. "Get away from her!"

"No...please..." Blake's warning fell on deaf ears.

Adam sheathed Wilt with a cocky smirk splayed across his face. It was enough to send Yang into a rage, igniting the very air around her. Her eyes blazed in brilliant crimson, a subconscious reaction to seeing Blake mortally wounded.

Dual shots from Ember Celica propelled Yang through the hall's broken windows.

Going berserk cost her a hefty price.

Adam was a paragon of calm against a storm of emotion.

Half a meter from impact, he lunged and performed the first stance from the Iaido.

In a blink of an eye, he effortlessly sliced through Yang's aura shield and deflected her over his shoulder.

Red eyes bled into violet as the shock of the attack struck Yang harder than Nora could with Magnhild. They clashed with Blake's as she passed above her collapsed form. They drifted shut as her body followed suit.

Wordless denial passed through Blake's lips.

Yang's right arm separated from her body.

She collapsed in a heap, curled up and unmoving.

Adam swung his chokutō around his body, staining the floor and walls with blood. Blake gripped her bleeding wound, trembling from the pain. She forced herself from the floor, protecting Yang from the approaching executioner.

"Why must you hurt me Blake?"

Defiant amber was his answer.

He lifted his chokutō and swept in a wide arc, cleaving Blake's head from her body.

"You've gotten better my love." He clicked his tongue in disappointment.

Her body and head dissolved into shadows.

Lithe footsteps reached his ears. He turned to see a limping traitor, carrying the blonde over her shoulder, slip out of the hall.

A Creep attempted to maul him before he neutralised it by removing its head. He followed the pair at a sedate pace, tracking their progress to Beacon's docks.

His job here was done.

Hundreds of Hunters stood around, yet Blake refused to collapse under the weight of her partner until she reached a green and pink pair resting on the ground.

Ren was the first to notice them.

"What happened?" The usual stoic warrior exclaimed as he helped Blake lower Yang off of her shoulder to the ground.

"...Wh...F…" She couldn't get out more before a wet cough erupted from her throat, sending blood trickling down her chin.

His clothes were instantly stained as Yang's injury spurted blood onto him.

"Nora, get bandages now!" Without question, she ran off towards the nearest evacuating airship. "Blake, give me one of your forearm ribbons."

Blake barely managed to unravel one of them with shaking hands before she fell to her knees clutching her abdomen. The front of her white shorts were dyed maroon. Red liquid seeped from between fingers trying to maintain pressure.

Magenta eyes widened at the sight of a grievous wound on another of his friends. He snatched the impromptu tourniquet from Blake's bloodied fingers. He needed to act fast or he'd lose both of them.

Nora wasn't anywhere in sight.

He stripped himself of his shirt and tore it in two, tossing the other half next to Blake. Bleary eyes cracked open as the fabric covered her head.

The other half of his shirt he wrapped around Yang's amputated arm. The teal of the shirt darkened to evergreen. He looped Blake's ribbon around Yang's arm and started to twist the ends together. His ruined shirt clung to the wound as the uncontrolled bleed slowed to an ooze.

He reached over Yang and seized Gambol from Blake's still form. She didn't have the energy or care to stop whoever had nicked it. He tied the ends of the ribbon around the sheath securely. He continued to twist the sheath, using it as leverage. When he deemed the tourniquet tight enough, he trapped the weapon against Yang's body.

He rested her on her back and leapt over to Blake's side. The bleeding from her wound had slowed under the pressure she'd been applying in her haze. He pushed her onto her back, removing his torn shirt from Blake. Her eyes moved erratically underneath their eyelids. .

"Blake? Are you awake?" He used his shirt to wiped her face clean. He moved Blake's hand away, turning the valve back open on the blood flow. It was long and thankfully not wide, but it went all the way through her body.

Her skin was paling rapidly.

He tore his shirt in half again. One half, he pressed against her front, keeping it there with his hand and applied as much pressure as he safely could. Turning her onto her side, he pressed the remaining part of shirt to her lower back. A pool of blood splattered the pavement.

This was too much for him. He needed another pair of hands.

His miracle appeared in the form of an orange-haired angel.

Nora ran at full pace carrying a field kit in her arms. She skid to a halt in front of him and dropped to the ground. He could see the panic building in her eyes.

"OMG, OMG, OMG! Ren! You're shirtless! You're hot. You're hurt! Blake's bleeding. Blood everywhere. OM-." Shy cycled through emotions, clutching her hair and releasing the pack. A deep purple bruise spread across Ren's left ribs and chest.

"NORA! She needs you. _**I**_ need you. Snap out of it." She did just that, but she remained terrified. "Now open that pack and pull out the bandages. All of them."

She unzipped the pack, pulling out scissors, bags, and numerous tubes until she found two rolls.

"Gottem. Now what?"

"Now, help me get Blake to a sitting position. My hands are a bit full." He chuckled dryly.

"Got it." She dropped the bandages behind Blake and gripped her shoulders, raising her to a seat.

"Start wrapping the bandage around her waist." Ren moved his hands off of his shirt as the bandages began to apply pressure for him.

Blake barely had enough energy to open her eyes. Gold peeked through eyelashes. They zeroed in onto her resting partner.

"Yang…" The syllable spluttered on the coagulation in her mouth. "I'm sorry…" She didn't even notice the rest of her team.

"Nora, tilt her head to the side. We can't let her choke." She pushed Blake's chin down and pried her mouth open. The blockage seeped out and down, freeing the esophagus, allowing for air to reach her starved lungs.

"Yang." A sad call rang out behind them. Ruby stood frozen, eyes plastered on her unconscious sister and more accurately, on her missing arm.

She looked over to Ren and Nora, who were supporting Blake up between them. They sat in a pool of blood.

Blake's blood.

"Oh go-" She was interrupted by a frantic Ren.

Ren never got frantic.

"Ruby! Do you know Blake's blood type?" She needed a transfusion or all the work done in trying to save her would be for naught.

"I don't know. B? Maybe?" She stumbled on her words and wracked her brain, trying to remember that fact among the mass of information in Blake's profile. "Is Yang going to be okay?"

"I believe so. Do you know your blood type?" He asked as she could pulled out her scroll.

"A+. Let me just check Blake's real quick."

Ren ignored her.

"Weiss? Do you know yours?" Blake was still bleeding through the bandages as Nora opened the next roll and started the process anew.

"O-." Weiss caught on quickly to Ren's intentions.

"Nora, keep wrapping. Ruby, take my spot." Ruby rushed over to Ren and gripped Blake's shoulders as Ren slipped out and dove into the field pack.

"Weiss, come here." Blake's situation was critical if she was in dire need of blood. Ren retrieved several tubes, bags and hypodermic needles. "Take off the bolero."

Before she could pass the sleeves over her hands and drop it, Ren was upon her, prodding her elbow joint with a needle.

"Rapidly clench and unclench your hand." Roving eyes never left her skin as he connected bag, tube and needle together. An elusive vein popped out on her arm and Ren smiled. Without warning, he sunk the needle into it. Weiss flinched.

Blood ran down the tube and started to fill up the bag. He grabbed another tube and needle, and shuffled over to Blake, careful to make sure he didn't disconnect the feed by moving too quickly. Weiss diligently followed.

"You almost done?" He inquired as he knelt at Blake's side.

"Just finishing up." She tucked the ends of the bandage onto itself. The bleeding had reduced tremendously. Only a small patch managed to soak the most exterior layer.

Blake's aura would heal her with time.

"Alright. Lay her down on her side." He flicked Blake's arm with a finger. Finding an artery, he slotted the second needle into it. A line of tubes connected Weiss and Blake together, the former keeping the latter alive.

Blake's hand moved on its own, seeking out her partner. She met a warm hard and grasped it, unwillingly to ever let go.

Ren pinched the tube leading to Blake and manually started to feed Blake the liquid she needed to survive. After several repeats, Blake's pallor receded back to the healthy olive skin she wore before the incident.

"She's going to be fine. She's going to be fine." Ren breathed a sigh of relief. He was physically and now mentally exhausted. The exhaustion of the past day weighed on him. Much like it weighed on the people around him. He stopped the manual feed, letting blood flow in naturally.

A summer breeze fluttered across the lawn, causing the shirtless medic to shiver. He would've rubbed his hands along his arms, but one was taken holding up the blood bag keeping the Faunus alive, and the other was feeding the blood into her.

A coat of warmth fell upon him. Bright red entered his peripheral as a cloak was draped across his shoulders. He knew of only one person who owned a red cloak.

She was currently hugging him from behind, thanking him profusely for saving her teammate and her sister.

"You're welcome." The exhaustion was worth it. The relief on her face energized him.

"The soldiers have a ship ready to take you guys to Vale." Sun had disappeared after Blake collapsed on them, searching for a craft to transport them to a hospital.

"But Jaune and Pyrrha are still missing." Nora tried to stand, stumbling as she did from a bruise on her side. The release of endorphins in the last hour had let her ignore it.

"What?" Ruby's eyes widened at the thought of her missing friends.

"Look guys." Everyone turned to Sun. "That giant Grimm keeps circling the school, even the White Fang are pulling out. We all have to go. Now."

"We're not...leaving." A sharp pain on his side caused Ren to fall to a crouch. "Not without them."

Sun stared at the resting forms of Blake and Yang.

Nora comforted Ren, snuggling into Ruby's cloak.

Weiss looked conflicted, unsure of her next course of action.

None of them knew what to do.

"I'll find them. I'll find them and I'll bring them back." The resolute voice of Team RWBY's leader emboldened them. Weiss wanted to step to her leader's side, but her Faunus teammate needed her more. "Watch after Blake and Yang." A series of nods responded to her request. She ran off towards the school. "I'll be back."

"You better b-!" Sun's commanding plea was drowned as she was blown back by a shock wave emanating from the courtyard. The shock wave sent her backwards towards the rest of them.

"What the-." Weiss' question remained unfinished as they were blown back by a second shock wave. The third shockwave failed to reach her, as the second had blown her outside their range.

They weren't the only ones knocked off of their feet. Several others on the platform, closer to the courtyard, lay dazed on the ground from the walls of air rushing at them. It, thankfully, didn't reach Weiss and her group.

Ruby staggered against Crescent Rose, rising from all fours. A fourth shockwave emanated from the center of the courtyard. They appeared into existence from nowhere; from a single point in space. A fifth shockwave tore towards them, and then a sixth and a seventh. The fast moving air popped eardrums.

The shock waves started to increase in frequency.

"What is _that_?" Weiss worked her jaw in circles, hoping for some relief in her ears. Ruby mimicked her, adding a few pulls on her ear lobes.

They simultaneously turned towards each other, confusion etched on their faces. They received similar expressions in return from the rest of their friends. Unspoken agreement passed between them as they all turned back to watch the enfolding phenomenon.

Blast after blast resonated one after the other. The next followed more quickly than the one before it. The increasing beat sped forward, merging to create a seamless tone. Apparently air did make a sound and it was very low. The steady hum reverberated across the the school.

The fabric of reality wavered around them.

The hum paused for a moment, drowning the courtyard in a void. The moment was short lived.

A screeching note pierced the skies above. Every person on or near the landing platforms reeled in pain at the impossibly sharp noise. The glass of every airship in the vicinity fractured under the unrelenting battery.

Blinding light radiated from the shock wave's origin, extinguishing the stars above and reverting night to day for a number of seconds. Ruby and her friends blinked away spots in their eyes.

The dying light revealed a glowing colossal fractal surrounded in a circle.

"Doesn't that look like one of your glyphs, Weiss?" Ruby took one glance at the seal and connected its style to her partner's.

"It does." Sky blue eyes traced each edge of the fractal, studying the spiraling pattern. The complexity of the seal outstripped her knowledge. "It's one of mine."

"How can you be sure?" Ruby's eyes followed behind Weiss', marveling at the beauty of the glyph.

"Because it's a Schnee glyph."

"But can't everyone in your family create glyphs?" Ruby distinctly remembered Weiss lecturing her on her family before.

"Not everyone." She revised Ruby's information of her family. "The Schnee bloodline carries this semblance. My semblance. But I'm the only one who styles their glyphs with this particular snowflake."

"So… the only person who could create a fractal glyph would be…?" They both knew the answer to her question.

"Me." It was an unequivocally true statement.

A final implosion of air released a calamitous bomb of pressure. Hunters, already braced for impact from the previous, buckled as it passed through them with the force of a runaway train. Unsecured items tumbled over the edge of the cliff. Ren struggled to maintain the connection between Weiss and Blake.

The light died and the glyph unraveled.

Silver threads rose from the last depths of the fractal, pulling the remaining glyph trailing behind them. As the threads reached to pull the layer below them, they combined with a neighbor, thickening in proportion. Each travelled at an angle, creating a sextuple helix inside the outer circle of the glyph.

Reaching a zenith, the threads dissolved, starting a chain reaction down to the bottom. Dust scattered in the still air before a wind swept it away towards the countryside.

The outer circle faded.

Four people; four women, stood at the former center of the glyph. Overburdened packs rested at their feets. Weapons adorned various places on their bodies.

The first woman, swathed in fabrics of dried blood with the hair to match, stood at the head of the diamond. Her hair fell to her chin, dancing in wind. A large, thick barreled mecha-shift weapon attached horizontally across her lower back. Black jeans tucked into a pair of sturdy boots. Grey vambraces molded around toned forearms. A black ribbon adorned her neck, coiling around multiple times before being tied in the back.

Behind her crouched a woman in white. Her hair was styled in a similar fashion. A rapier hung at her hips, fingers playing with a cylinder encased inside the guard. Stylish sneakers tied around dainty feet. Dress pants hung low on her waist, secured by an orange sash, the only colour on her person. A silver bandeau left her six pack bare. A white bolero with three-quarter sleeves protected her upper arms.

To their left, the woman's opposite stood, hips cocked in rapt boredom. Her fingers tapped a beat on her tricep. Midnight hair, topped with feline ears, swayed hypnotically. A charcoal pair of sneakers dressed her feet. Powerful leg muscles rippled under the clingy material of her pants. Her top was a black, v-neck, zip-up crop top shirt with three-quarter sleeves. Two small silver crosses pinned to her shirt, on the same spots where they previously secured a cloak on another owner.

The last member looked ready to keel over. She was bent over, propping herself up with her hands on her knees. Black fitted pants and knee-high leather boots shielded her legs. An orange crop top showed off her arms, one of which was decidedly different. Her left arm was a healthy bronze, but her right was matté grey. Both, however, carried yellow gauntlets around their wrists. Her blonde hair tied up high with an icicle tiara.

Silver and ice widened as they took in the team in front of them.

"It's us?" The team in front of them, was them. Older and changed, but them.

They continued to stare, straining their ears to pick up their conversation out of their range.

* * *

"It worked." Ruby took stock on the situation around them. Cracked moon hanging in the sky? Remnant. Check. Familiar buildings? Beacon. Check. A miniature version of her team standing far in front of her, of whom two members lay unconscious? Not check.

"We arrived after the battle Weiss." She nearly sounded annoyed. There was something severely wrong. The sky wasn't black with Grimm, nor were there thousands of them besieging the school.

"Sorry if I was a bit busy concentrating on not scattering us across the time continuum." Weiss rolled her eyes. "I landed us in Remnant, in Beacon, _and_ around the correct time."

"Umm, Weiss, we were supposed to go back in time, right?" Yang stared forward, noticing the discrepancy.

"Yes. Why?" She tilted her head and bit her lower lip in confusion. Other than the midget versions of her team gaping in amazement at them, nothing seemed wrong. Maybe that was the problem. "I assume you're talking about the miniature copy of our team over there?"

"What gave it away?" Ruby deadpanned, demanding answers. Her eye never left her younger copy. "Anything else you notice wrong?"

The team looked around themselves, seeing a school that should have been in the final processes of becoming a ruin. They all noticed a dragon circling the CCTS before alighting on the tower, clawing its way to the peak.

"We'll talk later about the jump. Right now, we're protecting this school." Ruby stated receiving nods of agreement in return. "The Hunters all seem to be gathered at the landing platforms, so don't bother protecting them. Yang, you're with Blake. Find Ozpin."

They ran off towards the CCTS. Ruby traced their forms in the darkness, watching them disappear into the school, before she brought her eye to her old partner.

"We get to go kill a Dragon." A fiendish smirk split her face. Weiss rolled her eyes at her display of wanton sadism.

They chased after the other two member of their team, leaving behind a platform of stunned witnesses.

 _Base of the CCTS Tower_

The atrium windows were shattered, the doors ajar and the support columns smashed or cracked. Great picture of security when dealing with the most important piece of hardware in the last 80 years.

Out from the doors, a red and yellow pair jogged out. The yellow one tripped over his feet running down the stairs after his partner, who took the steps three at a time. The blonde stopped behind the redhead in the empty plaza, breathing heavily.

"Ok, I think I have Glynda's number." He pulled his scroll from his pocket and fidgeted with it, tapping away; looking for it. "Where is it?"

His mind attempted to piece together the events under the tower.

"Pyrrha?" His scroll rested in his hand, forgotten. "What was all of that?"

'I..." Her eyes were downcast, unwilling to meet Jaune's eyes.

Inside the tower, a pyromaniac rocketed up the empty elevator shaft, drawing their attention back to the place they bolted from. She shouldn't have been able to do that.

"But... Ozpin…"

"There's no time." She steeled her resolve, accepted the fate weaved out for her. "Go. Get to Vale and call for help."

"Huh? What are you going to do?" Pyrrha answered for a step towards the tower. "No, Pyrrha, you can't. You saw how powerful she is. Pyrrha, I won't let you do th-"

His first kiss stopped him cold.

Gloved hands tangled in blonde hair, deepening the kiss. His arms wrapped around her waist, hesitant to touch the beauty. His blue eyes fluttered open, staring at the crystals of jade staring right back at him.

"I'm sorry." He didn't have the time to react. She pushed him into a weapons locker and slammed the door shut after him.

"Pyrrha, wait!" His voice cracked. "Stop! Stop! Pyrrha, please don't do this!" He shoved his fingers through the slits in the locker, desperately hoping she would listen to him.

Jade met sapphire as she tapped coordinates into the locker. A look of apology passed from her to him as she pressed the launch button. She didn't have the strength to voice her goodbye.

She ran towards the tower, sidestepping the rubble and cracked flooring. She wrenched the elevator's doors open with her Semblance. They receded into their recesses revealing an immobile elevator car. A giant hole punched through the floor and the control box above. Sparks rained from frayed wires.

She'd have to improvise.

She stepped into the elevator, avoiding the hole in the floor and channeled her Semblance. She shut her eyes as she commanded it to hoist the car up the tower. The car shook as her Semblance fought gravity for control. Clenching her fists, gravity released its hold and the car screeched upwards.

Underneath her, black and yellow descended down the shaft, into the vault she had left minutes prior.

The gallery filled with smoke as Cinder ascended to the landing with her propulsion system. She strolled to the bay windows and watched in glee as her handiwork played out below her.

The Dragon shimmied up the tower. Its eye peered through the window, meeting Cinder's. It released a shriek out towards the night.

"Shh. This is your home now." Her voice placated the beast, receiving a softer squeal in reply.

Above them, Remnant's moon cast light through the cogs, creating varying shades of shadow on the marble floor.

She turned as the elevator door slammed open. Through the smoke, a sword spun towards her. She tilted her head, following it as it passed. She smiled, happy at the prospect of an opponent.

A round shield rammed into her crossed arms as she absorbed the impact. A redhead stood on the other side of it, adding weight to the attack.

It was the false Maiden. Her lucky day.

She pushed the shield off. Pyrrha backflipped, landing cleanly in a fighting stance. Akoúo̱ returned to her left arm as she grasped Miló in her right. Cinder floated in front of her, a small fire underneath her feet keeping her there.

An orange aura erupting from Cinder's eyes was the warning Pyrrha received.

She tumbled to the right, avoiding a swipe of fire. She continued strafing right, avoiding a lance of flame.

A shower of flames spewed towards her. She raised Akoúo̱, deflecting the flames around her body. She staggered from the force of them, before launching forward, breaking the stream and stabbing downwards towards Cinder.

Cinder caught the blade of the sword. Full stop. Pyrrha panicked as Cinder twisted her body and palmed a strike to her chest. Her impact cracked the wall.

She recovered, raising her head in time to see Cinder propel herself at her with flames shooting from her hands. She planted her feet on the wall and looped her arm around Cinder's back and arm, flipping her over and slamming her into the floor.

It didn't phase Cinder. She somersaulted, performing a perfect bridge to regain her footing.

Fighting in high heels was a talent.

Not giving her a chance to rest, Pyrrha rushed her, driving Akoúo̱ into her gut. Cinder spun through it, carelessly parrying another strike to her head. Pyrrha increased her fervor, jabbing Cinder at her unguarded areas.

Cinder shielded each one.

A mistimed spin allowed Cinder to land a flaming back wheel on Pyrrha, sending her up into the air. In the air, Pyrrha sent both Akoúo̱ and Miló at her, which were deflected with orbs of fire. Pyrrha sent herself at her as a last resort and managed to collide with her.

Their tumble raised dust as they fractured the floor. Within the dust, Pyrrha managed to bind Cinder in a chokehold with her left while poising Miló to slit her throat with her right. Cinder's grip on the blade managed to stop her.

A bitter struggle ensued between them. Golden eyes glowed with power as Cinder channeled her Semblance into her hands. Pyrrha pressed her advantage, pulling Miló against Cinder's constraints.

A distraction broke her concentration.

The Dragon barreled in a direct line towards them.

Just before it hit the tower, a black object impacted into its chest, severing one of the dragon's primary muscles attributed to flight. It roared in pain as it veered from its course; its wings barely clipping the tower.

While it wasn't to her exact plan, Cinder took the distraction and melted Miló into three. She stepped backwards into Pyrrha, elbowing her while sending a ring of aura radiating from her. The ring smashed the windows of the viewing gallery, leaving sharp fragments everywhere.

Pyrrha came to leaning against a column. Cinder hovered menacingly, deeming her a small threat. Akoúo̱ lay at her feet while Miló was nowhere in her sight.

She channeled her Semblance into Akoúo̱, aiming at Cinder's shins. The unorthodox attack caught her by surprise as she tipped forward, losing control over her hover. Pyrrha phased above her and drove her fist into Cinder's back, smashing her into the floor again. Dust clouded Cinder's impact site.

Her follow up attack was foiled as Cinder conjured a ball of flame around her and rapidly expanded it, catching Pyrrha and flinging her into the wall again. The crash into the wall dislocated her shoulder.

Cinder stood across the room, bow drawn and pointed at her. She had had enough toying with the child.

Weaponless and injured, Pyrrha ran out of options. She rose and spun her body, releasing Akoúo̱ at the perfect moment. Cinder released her arrow.

The two objects met in midair, but instead of colliding and deflecting into different vectors, the arrow disintegrated around the shield and returned to its original form after the shield had passed.

Cinder sidestepped the shield.

Pyrrha didn't sidestep the arrow.

It lodged into her hip, embedding into the bone. Excruciating pain lanced up her spine as she collapsed, further aggravating the wound. She grabbed the shaft and tried to remove the arrow. The pain flared as the barbed head cut into muscle. The smallest movement caused the head to grind against bone.

"It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours." Cinder cupped her chin, meeting tear filled eyes with cruel purpose. "But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could have never imagined."

Pyrrha shrugged off Cinder's hand before wiping tears from her eyes.

"Do you believe in destiny?" Pyrrha's eyes hardened into emeralds as she stared back at Cinder.

The obtuse question puzzled Cinder. She narrowed her eyes at the girl's act of defiance.

"Yes." She rose and stepped backwards away from her, summoning her bow above her head. She pulled the string back before the arrow finished forming and pointed it at Pyrrha's heart. "Yes, yes I do."

Pyrrha stared death in the eyes, refusing to close her own in fear or pain.

A white glyph shimmered into existence, catching the arrow before it could pierce Pyrrha's heart.

Cinder's eyes scanned each part of the room carefully before scanning the series of intricate cogs above. Only a member of the Schnee family could produce glyphs, but she couldn't find any.

She returned her attention to the Maiden beneath her, the glyph protecting her from death.

"Behind you." A voice sounded directly next to her ear. She flinched and turned towards the voice, pointing her bow at her assailant.

A hand gripped her wrist and pulled back, throwing off her balance. Her eye's widened in surprise at her position. The figure wrested the bow out of her hand while planting a knee into her, knocking the air out of her and sending her through the empty expanse of a shattered window. The figure stepped to the edge, watching her free fall before she righted herself and ignited her hands and feet, slowing her to a gentle touch down.

Two glowing circles pierced the night to glare at her attacker.

Pyrrha was alive. She owed her life to the figure at the window. Her destiny allowed her to see another sunrise. She lifted her head to look upon her savior. Green eyes locked onto the figure's form.

The figure was female, decked in red and black. Her hair reached her chin. She turned and scrutinized Pyrrha's fallen form. She only had one eye. One silver eye.

"Thank you" She tried to lift herself from her resting position. The actions agitated the arrow again, causing her to crash on her way up. "Who are you?"

"You know who I am Pyrrha." She knelt at Pyrrha's side and slid her arms under Pyrrha's back and legs, lifting her up bridal style. "I'm a friend."

Only one of Pyrrha's friends had silver eyes.

"Ruby?" Pyrrha slurred. The near death experience wasted her. "But you-"

"Sleep." Ruby pressed Pyrrha's head into her shoulder. In response, Pyrrha threw her arms around her neck and tightened. "I'll tell you when you wake up."

Pyrrha nodded against her shoulder before becoming limp. Her breathing and heartbeat dropped low as she passed out in Ruby's arms.

"She's completely exhausted." Weiss stepped next to Ruby. "She didn't even notice me behind her."

Ruby shrugged in ambivalence. Together, they walked to the edge of the tower. The wind howled through the viewing gallery.

"This is going to be rough." Weiss glanced at the ground. "I have enough left for two glyphs and then I'm dry."

With Pyrrha in Ruby's care, they stepped off the tower, plummeting towards the rapidly approaching ground.

Two-thirds of the way down the tower, a glyph appeared under them. They slowed to a fraction of their original velocity as they passed through it. Another appeared at the height of the tower's entrance. Passing through, they landed heavily, knees absorbing the impact from the fall Weiss' glyphs couldn't dissipate.

They grunted in mutual discomfort. The glyphs weren't the most comfortable method of descent as they caused certain parts of the body to decelerate as others continued to accelerate.

"I need a nap after this." Weiss shivered as the feeling of a drained core washed over her.

Ruby shifted Pyrrha until she settled into a more comfortable position in her arms and they took off towards the landing docks.

 _Beacon Vault_

Yang and Blake entered the tower as an elevator car screeched upwards. Blake sent Ruby a quick clone, watching as Pyrrha ascended towards her death, letting her leader know Pyrrha was in the tower, before diving into the opened shaft with Yang.

Approaching the bottom, Blake shifted out of her clone, bounding off it, leaving it to crumble as the earth clone lost shape. Yang fired her gauntlets, shaking off her excess speed before hitting the ground mightily.

It was black. Pitch black.

Blake's eyes strained to make out the the shape of the rent open elevator doors before clutching her eyes in agony as Yang created a fireball in her hands. She glared at her partner through pinprick irises.

"Sorry." Yang chuckled good naturedly. "You're not on one of your solo missions Blake. I need to be able to see too."

Blake said nothing.

Blake slipped through the doors into the Vault, Yang on her tail.

There was no Vault.

Most of the ceiling had collapsed, flooding the floor with dirt. Parts of the wall had caved inward, further weakening the ceiling above. Lamps on the wall flickered as power intermittently reached through the frayed cabling.

Searching for their headmaster among this wreckage would take time if they didn't have the nose of a Faunus to lead the way.

Blake dashed along the wall, flipped over the debris and landed on the other side. Yang fumbled behind her, lacking the natural agility her teammate possessed.

The process continued, Yang obediently following Blake deeper into the Vault, trusting she'd be able to lead them back out.

She stopped next to Blake, who stood in the intersection leading towards the Fall Maiden's healing pod.

A literal wall of debris blocked their path. Ozpin was pinned under it, hopefully alive and in one piece.

"Great. Now what?"

The Faunus lifted her hand, flicking the imaginary debris in front of it away.

"You want me to blast it all away?" Blake looked happy Yang had understood her. "You do realize I risk collapsing it further if I do so, right"

A noncommittal shrug answered her.

"Fine." Yang spread her aura through her body, reinforcing the points of leverage first before dumping the remainder into her arm. She brought her arm into contact with the wall, fracturing it and sending it further into the Vault.

A cocoon of emerald greeted her effort. Inside of it sat their headmaster, looking none the wiser to his rescue. Brown eyes opened, taking in the ceiling of the Vault and not the rubble which once trapped him.

"I was wondering if anyone remembered I was down here." He chuckled merrily at his predicament. "I was about to start digging away, but then you two managed to find me."

He lifted himself from his meditation, pulling his cane from the ground, deactivating the protective field.

"Now tell me why two of my students decided to venture into a war zone instead of evacuating into the city?" He wasn't smiling anymore. The safety of his students was no laughing matter.

"Geez. You'd think he'd be happier to escape his prison." Yang jostled Blake on her shoulder. "Easy explanation? Ruby ordered us to find you."

"Why is she giving orders when she should be under orders herself to evacuate?" Ozpin furrowed his brow in confusion, wishing he had a cup of cocoa in his hands.

"She's not under orders." Ozpin began to take notice of the differences between the two in front of him and the two in his memory. The two weren't adding up.

"You're not Yang and Blake, are you? Yang isn't missing an arm and last time I checked, Blake hated not wearing her bow." His hands gripped the lever of his cane, tensed in case these doppelgängers struck.

"Time travel?" Yang sheepishly scratched the back of her head. Blake continued to remain silent.

"With the lack of evidence against you, I believe you. For now." His voice steeled but he eased his grip on his cane. "But at the slightest hint that you are threats to my students, I will eliminate you."

"Very well then Headmaster." Her hand held torch illuminated the cavern further. "Then follow us to the surface."

Blake took off without a sound, leading Yang and Ozpin through the obstacle course. For a middle aged man, Ozpin was nimble, using his cane with great skill to follow the time traveling pair.

They spared no moment at the bottom of the shaft as they leapt from wall to wall on their way upward.

They emerged from the elevator doors moments later, relieved to breathe in fresh air rather than the damp, filtered version the ventilation system sent to the Vault below.

As they exited the tower, they stumbled upon the remaining members of Team RWBY. Pyrrha continued to slumber away in Ruby's arms. The wound on her hip slowly bled around the arrow; the blood imperceptible from the colour of her sash.

"What happened to her?" Ozpin glanced at the woman the Fates had chosen to contain the Fall Maiden's power.

Ruby handed Pyrrha to Blake, the least exhausted member of her team, careful to avoid jostling the arrow and causing her any pain.

"She engaged Cinder Fall, preventing the destruction of the tower until I dealt with the Dragon, taking a barbed arrow to the hip." Ruby droned, giving her report. "Weiss' intervention prevented Cinder from executing, stealing and completing her Maiden power."

"She nearly died?" Ozpin cringed. He had thrust the burden onto Pyrrha too soon. She was young and didn't have the strength to defend herself against the darker forces of the world. Yet.

"Yes sir." Ruby's monotonous speech caught his attention.

"And you Miss Rose, what happened to you? You're not missing an eye, but it's gone dark. And you sound…" His gestured his hand in a circular manner, searching for a word to describe Ruby's voice.

"Emotionless?" Weiss supplied helpfully.

"Dead?" Yang added from his side.

Blake didn't speak any word, further confusing him about her silence.

"Yes, to both."

"My voice is the unfortunate byproduct of several months of torture Headmaster." Ozpin flinched at the mention of the brutal means of retrieving information. "I'm sure you know the legends of the silver-eyed Hunters of times past and the immense power they wielded over Grimm. All power comes with a cost and my eye was one of them."

"Why would you be tortured?" The pieces weren't adding up in Ozpin's head. "You're a first year Huntress, or rather, were if you did travel through time like Yang mentioned."

Ruby simply gestured to the shattered moon patch on her upper arm before tearing it off. She presented the emblem to the headmaster in her opened hand.

Ozpin stared stunned at the small patch, dumbfounded to the reason why anyone so much as knew about its existence, not to mention, wore it on their arm. If this team really did travel through time then he could draw his own conclusions.

"I hope you know the meaning behind this patch, High Commander." He hadn't laid his eyes of this symbol since he'd created it many years ago.

"Yes sir." Ruby repeated in her same emotionless tenor. "Take it. I'm not the High Commander in this time. I defer to you now, not the other way around."

"It's not my right to take it if you are, even in this time." Ozpin curled Ruby's finger around the patch. "No one, except for those in the highest office, know it exists. Wear it proudly."

Ruby didn't remove her hand, thrusting the infernal emblem at Ozpin.

"I don't want it." She snarled at him, dropping the mechanical overtone. "Why do you think we're here Ozpin? Because we won?" Ozpin silenced at the realization. "My Remnant; my Vale; my people burned because we failed. Should I be proud?"

"You will wear it as an order." Ozpin stared at her heterochromatic eyes, unperturbed at the soullessness reflecting back at him. "You will wear it because you failed, not as penance, but as motivation. You will wear it because you have something to fight for."

"Very well Headmaster." She retracted her hand, affixing the patch back on her arm. "Then I formally turn over command of team RWBY to the Headmaster of Beacon. We are yours to use."

Team RWBY fell into stance, saluting Ozpin, and in the case of Blake, nodded her head.

"Thank you." Ozpin declared, striking the ground with his cane. "Team RWBY will continue to be lead by High Commander Ruby Rose. You report directly to me and will inform me of all actions taken by your team before doing so. I strip High Commander Ruby Rose of command of all forces other than her own. Understood?"

"Understood. Thank you sir."

"At ease." They dropped their stances, but waited for their next orders. "After we get Miss Nikos here medical attention, you will present a full report on your world. Proceed to the evac point."

"Yes sir." They sped towards the landing platforms in diamond formation with the Headmaster in the center and Ruby leading them.

 _Landing Platforms_

"What in the name of pancakes was that?" Nora was the first to speak, breaking the silence around them. She snuggled deeper in Ren's side, wrapping the cloak further around them.

No one had an exact answer to her question, only theories and guesses.

"That might have been team RWBY." Sun posed his answer, unsure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. "We all saw that, right?"

"Unless we were all hallucinating, then yes, that was team RWBY." Ever the voice of reason, Ren responded. "Only question left, is how?"

"Hold up." Ruby snapped from her stupor. "How can that have been us? We're all right here." Weiss stood next to her, and Yang and Blake lay at her feet.

"I'm assuming time travel as they all looked older than us." Weiss theorized, finding no other feasible explanation to the appearance of an older version of themselves.

The remainder of the group had to agree with Weiss. While they could have been clones of the originals, or an illusion, none of them saw any benefit to impersonating the team.

Weiss scroll beeped with an incoming call. Its melodic tone broke her out of her musing.

"It's Jaune." JNPR's leader's portrait appeared. "Where are you?" Ren and Nora leaned in, eager to know where their leader had gone off to, and whether Pyrrha was with him.

"Weiss please, you have to stop her." Jaune's voice was frantic, borderline hysterical.

"What?" She had no idea who he was referring to.

"Pyrrha!" His yell caused Weiss to pull her head away from the scroll, ears ringing. "She's going after that woman, at the top of the tower. She doesn't stand a chance."

The group turned towards the tower. The Dragon continued to circle, as if waiting for a command.

"Jaune, what are you talking about? Where are you?"

"DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!" Weiss nearly dropped the scroll. The usually amiable boy was incensed. His voice dropped into sorrow. "Please, you have to save Pyrrha."

"We will. Are you okay?" She received an depraved cry of anguish in return before the connection ended. "Jaune? Jaune!?"

She looked helpless at Ruby, waiting for her orders. She looked as lost as she did.

"Guys, the tower." Sun pointed to the tower, drawing their attention back to it. The Dragon was no longer circling, but barrelling towards it, intent on cleaving the steeple in twain.

"Pyrrha is up there!" They watched with bated breath as Pyrrha's undoing spiralled towards her, unable to reach her in time.

To their great relief, a black blur crashed into the Grimm, pulling it away from the tower with only its wing brushing the edge.

No one noticed a second blur, white in color, run up the side of the tower and disappear into the cogs.

They traced the Dragon's tumble, its wing clearly disabled as it pivoted in a useless shoulder socket, trying to position itself upright with its functioning wing. It released a keening wail as it gouged a trench into the terrain. A thundering boom silenced the beast, plunging the landscape back into tranquility.

"We have to go help her." Weiss and Sun jumped to Ruby's side, ready to scour the floors of the tower to find Pyrrha.

"You will be going nowhere." Professors Oobleck and Port blocked their way. "Two of you are first year students, while the third is a foreign student under which no circumstances we will allow harm to come to."

"But Pyrrha is in that tower fighting, Professors." They looked nonplussed. "We have to help her out. Jaune is also somewhere out there."

"If Miss Nikos is truly is in the tower then we will retrieve her then search for Mister Arc. You three, however, will stay here and evacuate to Vale." Ruby made to protest but Port denied her. "Headmaster Ozpin is missing and Professor Goodwitch is in Vale, leaving you all under our care."

Ruby nearly burst into tears at the notion of leaving Pyrrha behind. Weiss consoled her young leader, wrapping her arms around her and bringing her into a hug. Ren and Nora, contrary to their injuries, looked ready to throttle the Professors who dared prevent them from searching for their leader and teammate.

Fortunately for the Professors, Ozpin came to their rescue. Behind him trailed the members of the elder team RWBY, vigilant as they searched for enemy combatants. In Blake's care, Pyrrha continued her slumber.

"Interesting. Bartholomew, may I part you from your coffee?" The Professor handed over his thermos without a word, transfixed at the anomalies standing behind the Headmaster. Ozpin took a long draught, intentionally creating a feeling of tension. "Thank you. It is interesting as to why all of you have yet to evacuate to Vale. Everyone else has."

"We were worried about Pyrrha and Jaune, sir." Ruby meekly replied, still wrapped up in Weiss. "They're missing."

"A noble pursuit I'm sure, but as you can see, Miss Nikos is fine." He gestured to the elder Blake, where Pyrrha rested. Ruby and her groupies flinched at the sight of the arrow. "Other than the rather minor injury to her hip that is."

A cacophony of voices assaulted the Headmaster. Some inquired about Jaune, some about the reason behind Pyrrha's injury, some to his whereabouts, but all questioned about the group standing behind him.

"Enough." His raised hand quieted the masses. "Commander Rose, please take your team and clear Beacon of any remaining hostiles and remain on site until I return. I have more than a nagging suspicion if you came with us to Vale, you would receive not a moment of peace."

"Sir." Elder Ruby confirmed their orders. Blake walked over to Ren and awkwardly handed over Pyrrha, shuffling her around to avoid pressing in the arrow.

"When you find Mister Arc, be sure to send him on his way. I'm sure the rest of his team would like to know of his safety. You may go." Team High Command disappeared without a word uttered between the four of them. "Professors, please carry the injured. It's time they received their much needed medical treatment."

"Headmaster, what about-" Ozpin interrupted her by bopping her with his cane. She was his youngest student after all and would have the most questions.

"Miss Rose, I will not divulge any information about them. You will have to ask them, personally, but not until your sister wakes. She'll need you to deal with the trauma of losing her arm." He smiled kindly at her, his brown eyes observing the two silver eyes her counterpart lacked.

She beamed at him before skipping towards the airship where the rest of her group waited, the Headmaster following her at a more sedate pace.

Upon entering the ship, the ramp shut behind him and they began their journey to Monty Memorial Hospital. Ruby had alighted to Yang's side, pulling her head into her lap, with Weiss doing the same to Blake. Ren held Pyrrha in his arms as Nora removed Pyrrha's circlet, hopefully providing some comfort to her. They looked incomplete without their leader.

"Professor, can you tell us anything about that team?" Ozpin glanced from his scroll towards the Schnee heiress. The notice of the rest of the ship turned to him as well. He finished his message to Qrow and Glynda.

"I can tell you they are the future version of your team, team RWBY. Unfortunately that is all I can tell you without breaching the confidence they have instilled in me."

"What about Jaune?" Nora spoke from her seat, brushing fingers through Pyrrha's hair, untangling knots as they reached them.

"I'm sure you're worried about him, but your teammate requires immediate care which cannot be performed on the field. I'm more shocked you hadn't left earlier, but upon seeing the aid Mr. Ren administered to Miss Belladonna and Miss Xiao-Long, I can see why. Mr. Arc will be along shortly after Team RWBY finds him."

They staggered as the impromptu ambulance settled onto the hospital's roof. Ren picked up Pyrrha, Nora hovering at his side, Ruby's cloak still bundled around her. The conscious members of Team RWBY carried their unconscious members down the ramp.

"Port and Oobleck, go and secure the surrounding districts." The two professors jumped from the rooftops, heading in separate directions.

After a brief wait, the original group piled into the elevator and rode down to the emergency room. A jaunty elevator tune followed them on their journey to the ground floor.

The doors didn't open to the expected pandemonium an invasion of Grimm could cause. The reception area was immaculate. A nurse with odd white horns, sat at the front desk, tapping away at her keyboard. She lifted her head at the sound of the arriving elevator chime.

"Headmaster Ozpin. Always a pleasure."

"Nurse Xanna. You look splendid. How's the husband?" Ruby and Weiss shared looks of impatience at the pedantic banter Ozpin invited between the two.

"Most likely terrorizing the nearest nest of Grimm. I do hope brings me a present." Everyone sans Ozpin flinched when her lips curled into a murderous smile, revealing rows of sharpened teeth. "Now, how may I help you?"

"Three of my students are in varying conditions. One has had her arm amputated, the other a stab wound in her abdomen and the last has a barbed arrow in her hip. The first two were treated on the field and all are unconscious."

She searched through several documents on her computer before replying. "OR's four, five and six are available. I assume you remember where they are." Ozpin nodded. "Go right on ahead. I'll page Dr. Chase."

Ozpin stalked down the halls, Ruby, Weiss, Ren, and Nora on his heels. His cane echoed with each impact with the ground.

"Professor, which hospital are we at? We're not at Vale General." Ren spoke for all of them, perturbed at the silence surrounding them.

"This hospital caters exclusively to Hunters, the only hospital to do so. Rarely are more than forty interned at any one given time given the resilience and healing factors all Hunters possess." They turned into a hallway of operating theaters, where several attending waited with gurneys. "It is staffed with the very best, mostly retired Hunters, and funded independently by them."

"Nurse Xanna didn't seem to look the age to be retired nor did she look to be a Hunter." Weiss commented on the woman who shared her hair color.

"She works here at her husband's behest. They are travellers and her husband thought it would help mellow her out if she worked in a profession of helping people. It's done wonders on her." He laughed as his first memory of meeting her was brought to his conscious. "She nearly ripped my head off on her first day. There are some seriously sharp claws on that woman."

The quartet gulped, unable to shake the image of a vengeful goddess from their minds.

"What kind of Faunus is she?" Ruby really wanted to know what those weird horns were on top of head.

"You'll have to ask her yourself." Ozpin helped load Pyrrha onto a gurney as an attending approached him, before moving to assist Ruby and Weiss with Yang and Blake.

"What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time Oz?" The attending stood tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for his cock and bull story to amuse her.

"Not me this time dear Allison. My poor students have." He gestured to the three students lying in their gurneys. Another attending had already begun to cut around Pyrrha's skirt, exposing the injury. The bleeding had stopped, sealed by the escaping platelets.

Dr. Cameron moved to her side inspecting the injury

"You can take her to Chase." She ordered the attending before turning back to Ozpin. "He'll have it out in a few."

She jotted a few bits of information before sliding over to Blake's gurney. She waited for Ozpin to describe the injury but a voice from her side answered before her.

"Stab wound, approximately three centimeters in length piercing through the medial abdomen to the posterior. Blood transfusion given with O-." Ren recited from memory.

She noted the information with raised eyebrows.

"You sure start them young, Oz." She noted the information. "Taub will take her. Check for complications from a field transfusion." She moved to her last patient. "When was the tourniquet applied?" She frowned, unable to spot the time usually written on the forehead of the amputee.

"Around thirty minutes ago." Ren smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I didn't have a marker on hand. The sheath also belongs to Blake."

Allison pulled a marker from her coat, looked at her watch and scrawled the time stamp across Yang's forehead.

"House will take her." She pushed the cart towards the last theater. "I'll hand the sheath back when it's no longer needed."

"Since when does House do surgery?"

"Since he made a pass at Cuddy the other day. I might as well send him the amputee and brighten his day seeing how he's stuck down here for the next few days."

She turned to the students who had carried their teammates to her.

"We'll take good care of your friends. Go and wait in the reception. We'll let you know how it goes." She turned back to the Headmaster, a glint in her eyes. "Oz, did you know Cuddy stocked the bar with cocoa especially-"

Ozpin was out of her sight before she could finish the sentence, sprinting down the hallway with cane in hand.

She faced the kids once more.

"Go and make sure he doesn't overdose on his cocoa. It wouldn't be the first time we'd have to treat him for his addiction." They sensed a juicy story, interested in their eccentric Headmaster's weakness. "Go and ask him yourself if you don't believe me."

As they turned to follow their Headmaster, she interrupted them.

"Hold up." She jumped over the counter and rummaged among the bins underneath, pulled out a green scrub top, and tossed it to Ren.

"Figured you might want a shirt considered you used your own to patch your friends." Ren took off the cloak, handing it back to Ruby. The color matched his old shirt to the shade. "Now actually go and make sure Ozpin isn't in a coma."

They returned to the reception area where their Headmaster calmly sat with a steaming mug of cocoa in one hand and his scroll in the other, sending off messages to ascertain the general situation after the attack.

"Dr. Cameron must've overestimated the Headmaster's cocoa addiction." Nora scowled, disappointed he wasn't in a chocolate induced coma.

"No. She didn't." Nurse Xanna spoke up from her computer, tapping a pen against her horn. "I only gave him one packet."

"You also threatened to castrate me if I asked for more." Ozpin pouted behind his mug.

"Whatever do you mean?~" She twirled a length of her hair around her finger, a sweet smile plastered on her face.

"Nothing Xanna, nothing at all." He gulped, hiding behind his delicious chocolate. Nora, Ren and Weiss took a step away from the kindly receptionist.

Ruby, whose danger sensing meter was obviously broken, snuck around behind the desk, intent on satisfying her curiosity about the woman's Faunus heritage.

"Child." Xanna caught Ruby's hand as it neared her hair. Ruby was struck still. "Why are you trying to touch my horns?"

"Ruby, I suggest you use your Semblance and run." Ozpin's stricken demeanor terrified the other three students, worrying Ruby had pushed her luck too far.

"What have you been telling them about me Ozpin?" She pulled Ruby into her lap, nuzzling her cheek against the girl's hair. "This one is absolutely adorable. I might just adopt her." Ruby squeaked in embarrassment at the woman's manhandling, flushing red as her cloak.

Ozpin had no words. His hand clamped around the only stable object in his life right now, his delicious cocoa. The most dangerous woman in the world had officially broken him. He hadn't expected her to like Ruby; rather he expected her to crush Ruby's hand at her impudence.

He'd have to talk to Cuddy again about her drugging his cocoa. He swirled the dark liquid in the cup, as if he did it long enough the hallucinogen within would be revealed.

"Nurse Xanna, could you please let me go?" Ruby squirmed uncomfortably in her lap, eager for an escape route to present itself.

"Fine. Only because you're so darn cute." Ruby made to slide off of her lap before a pair of arms trapped her again. "But first you must ask me the question you wanted to before I caught you trying to touch my horns."

"Oh." Ruby perked up, remember how she came to be in her situation. "I wanted to know what kind of Faunus you were." Ruby paid no attention to the fingers running through her burgundy hair, Xanna's sharpened nails raising goosebumps.

Xanna appeared lost in thoughts for a few moments before answering.

"I'm a rabbit-fox hybrid." She tugged on Ruby's hair, anticipating her next question. "I don't know how I came to have these horns but I've come to enjoy them. Any other questions?"

"May I have some cocoa please?" Ruby craned her neck, directing gleaming puppy-dog eyes up at her captor. Xanna gave a token resistance before wrenching her hand free from crimson tresses, her nails severing several strands of hair.

She reached over to a locked cabinet, twisted the key and pull open the drawer, revealing several dozen packs of cocoa.

"You may only have one at a time." She picked a pack and handed it to Ruby. "And no Ozpin, you may not use Ruby to fuel your addiction." She shut down the headmaster without batting an eye. He sulked at his ruined plans.

"Thanks Nurse Xanna." Freed from her imprisonment, she skipped over to the bar. Pouring milk and the contents of the packet into a paper cup, she shoved it into the microwave. The next few minutes dragged on inconceivably as she waited for her liquid cookie substitute to finish heating.

"I can smell why you like cocoa so much Headmaster." At the ding, she flung the microwave door open and reached for her treat. "I can taste why you like it too."

The Headmaster said nothing, continuing to swirl his drink in a cup, lost in a haze.

"You guys should try some of this." She egged her friends to ask the nurse for a packet, but one look at the demoness behind her desk gave them second thoughts. Her eyes glowed in unholy light. They politely declined the death sentence.

"All we can do now is wait for Pyrrha, Yang, and Blake to wake up then." She fell into a seat cushion, crossing her legs and snuggling deeper into her cloak. She periodically sipped her cocoa as her friends crashed onto the seats around her, splayed in various positions in vain attempts to gain a semblance of comfort.

Weiss shifted from sitting to resting her head on Ruby's lap, draping the rest of Ruby's cloak around herself. Ren stretched his arms and hung his head over the back, Nora leaning against his uninjured side.

As their eyes drifted shut for the oncoming night, the hospital's front doors opened to a dusty crow, a tattered cyborg and a drained dominatrix.

"Headmaster, fancy seeing you here. Such a nice day outside, isn't it." James clocked Qrow over the head, breaking Ozpin from his mental stupor at the sound of Qrow eating linoleum.

"Ozpin, we've managed to clear most of the districts of the Grimm presence." Ozpin hummed lazily at the General's report and pulled out his scroll.

"I have similar reports coming in from other districts. Anything to add Glynda dear?" She shook her head and collapsed onto a couch, exhausted beyond belief at repairing structural damage with her Semblance.

"You mentioned in your message one of my nieces is in the hospital." Qrow dragged himself up on his scythe, waving to Ruby who happily waved back. "I can only assume it's Yang since Ruby seems to be indulging in your addiction Oz." Ruby sipped her cocoa, hiding a guilty grin.

"Unfortunately Miss Xiao-Long lost her arm during the battle, amputated from the middle of the humerus." He drank his cocoa, as if delivering such news wasn't anything new to him. "Your niece's other teammate, Miss Belladonna suffered a stab wound to her abdomen. Miss Nikos took an arrow to her hip. They were all admitted to surgery around ten minutes ago."

"Did they recover her arm?" James interjected into the conversation. "It could still be reattached. She won't have to undergo the same treatment and rehabilitation I had to." He rotated his exposed arm in its socket, emphasizing his point.

"No. No arm was recovered. The other half of Ember Celica is also missing."

"Yang's going to be pissed she lost a gauntlet." Qrow stroked his stubble. James, Ozpin and Glynda sweatdrop.

"You don't think she'll be more pissed she lost her arm?" James queried in forced amusement.

"You seem to do just fine James, and you've lost more than just an arm." Qrow punched James on his chest, a heavy thud echoing from within. "I appreciate you sticking with my nieces and all Oz, but you have to deal with the repercussions of evacuating Beacon and its security."

"And what do you think this scroll is for?" He took a seat next to the resting Glynda. "I've been reading through more reports than you can imagine, only able to glance at them before another two arrive." His scroll vibrated as another report came in. "Don't worry about Beacon's security. I have a team taking care of it."

"A single team Oz? The cocoa's finally gone to your head." He rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing in exasperation. "Also, why aren't you attacking me? My troops attacked your country and you're standing there nonchalantly."

"One, you're standing in front of me and not cleaved in two by Qrow. Two, you have nothing to gain and everything to lose if you actually ordered the attack. We both know you're smarter than that." James nodded gratefully.

Glynda lifted her head from the couch, comprehending James' comment about the security of the school.

"Wait, you have a SINGLE team-." Her incoming rant was interrupted by an incoming call.

"Interesting." Ozpin stared at the scroll in his hand. "Only three people have the number to this particular scroll, and they all happen to be standing next to me." He thumbed the answer button on his screen.

"Sir, we've completed your orders. Beacon has been cleared of all hostiles." A monotone drifted from the scroll's speakers. Only Ozpin could identify the speaker's identity, having been the only one to hear it.

"Commander, have you located Jaune Arc?" Glynda, James and Qrow shared puzzled looks at the speaker's title. They attempted to glimpse the person's identity but Ozpin's hand covered the transparent screen from the back. "We found him unconscious and he's recovering."

"His teammates will be glad to hear about Mister Arc's well being." He looked over to the snuggling pair who were eavesdropping on him. They relaxed before slipping into naps.

"We also managed to retrieve Yang's gauntlet. It's charred black but functional. She may claim it when she recovers from her amputation. We'll also fix it for her." A Grimm had more variation in its howl than the voice did.

"I'll return to Beacon at daybreak." The voice went mute, acknowledging Ozpin's order. "See you in the morning then."

"We'll be in your office." The voice disconnected without another word, plunging the reception area into silence.

"Oz, who was that?" James spoke for his group, quite interested in the mystery woman who could break into Ozpin's office.

"She's the leader of the team who I assigned to secure Beacon."

"And you're not worried about her breaking into your office?" Glynda had a bewildered expression on her face.

"If she managed to place the call to my scroll, then she's already broken into my office." Ozpin made to drink his cocoa, but was severely disappointed none remained in his cup. "No one except for you three have my number so the only way for her to place the call was from my office."

"But you're not worried?" Qrow echoed Glynda's query again, incredulously surprised the Headmaster wasn't more panicked.

"No. While I've only met them about an hour ago, I have complete faith in them to do their jobs." Ozpin smiled infuriatingly as they choked on their saliva.

"You let a team, who you don't know, protect our school and break into your office?" The Headmaster hadn't lost his mind; he'd taken it and scrambled it beyond measure. "Has the cocoa finally addled your mind?"

"No, but I could use some more." A glare from the warden of chocolate told him he would get none. "Everything will be explained tomorrow. Trust me."

They gulped at his implied ultimatum. Qrow couldn't leave since his nieces were in the hospital. James was the leader of a foreign military power who stayed in Ozpin's good graces because they were friends. Glynda had to follow him since she was his deputy.

"We have a little more than seven hours to sleep. I suggest you use those hours to rest and recuperate." He dismissed then with a turn of his heel, walking towards the front desk to weasel another packet of cocoa from the warden.

James collapsed next to Glynda, happy to have the day's toils over with. Glynda had fallen asleep at the mention of rest.

Qrow went to ambush her niece, hoping she'd be able to provide some answers to the Headmaster eccentric behavior; well, more eccentric than his usual.

"Hey Ruby." He sat across from her on the coffee table, resting his sword on its side. "Indulging in Ozpin's addiction?"

"Hi Uncle Qrow." She happily chirped at him in a whisper, mindful of her sleeping entourage, before taking a sip of her cocoa, eerily reminiscent of the Headmaster.

"I hope you don't get addicted to hot chocolate Ruby." He scolded his youngest niece, who took another sip in defiance. "Beacon already has one addict and he's more than a handful to handle." Qrow pointed to Ozpin with a thumb over his head, who was nearly begging Nurse Xanna for another packet. She was having none of it. "It's a wonder he doesn't have diabetes."

"I have my cookies. The Headmaster can have his cocoa." She watched the Headmaster sulk away from the front desk without a packet. "So what's up?"

"Well, I came here as soon as Ozpin sent me a message." Qrow ran his hand through his hair. "Your sister and teammate got hurt pretty good, didn't they?"

"Yeah." Ruby gazed downward, downtrodden at the fate of her teammates. "But the doctor says they'll be fine, but you know, Yang will be missing an arm."

Qrow wanted to hug the depressed Ruby but a certain heiress on her lap prevented him.

"Don't worry about the arm. Ironwood over there's lost more and he gets around." Ruby traced the meeting point of flash and steel, exposed by the General's tattered suit, fascinated at the construction. "We can get Yang an arm, maybe even color it gold."

"Oh no!" Her shout disturbed her sleeping teammate causing her to burrow herself deeper into Ruby's cloak. "Yang lost Ember Celica."

"Ozpin's mystery friend apparently recovered it." He grumbled clearly annoyed he'd been left out of the loop. "He won't tell us anything about her or her team. Cagey bastard."

Ruby innocently grinned at him.

"You know who it is, don't you?"

"Maybe." She drank from her mug, refusing to say anymore, deciding to play along with Ozpin's shenanigans. "It's a surprise."

"Great. He managed to rope my family into his schemes." He lifted himself from the coffee table and slunk over to the remaining space on the other side of Weiss. Throwing an arm over his eyes, he drifted away into sleep's embrace.

Ruby followed in his steps, resting her head on the seat's back and waited for morning. The nurse kindly dimmed the overhead lights.

* * *

An: I lied. There will be more author's notes. I know it's similar to _Remnant's Reclaimer_ but the plot is planned out several chapters in advanced. There will be a prequel to this story. Remember that everything happens in this story for a reason. If something appears to be out of context, or unexplained, then you're not looking hard enough.


	3. Three - Genesis

Chapter 3

* * *

 **Genesis**

* * *

 _Monty Memorial Hospital - 0630 Hours_

A violent klaxon startled the temporary inhabitants of the hospital's reception.

Groggy groans of discontent sounded from every member, expressing their complaints about the hospital furniture. Even Weiss, who managed to take up an entire arm of the couch and part of Ruby's lap, managed to complain.

"Note to self, don't fall asleep on crappy furniture." Qrow stretched his back, jarring cracks emanating from the compressed joints. A few more shoulder rotations worked out the remainder.

Weiss pried open her eyes to face a sheet of crimson. The comfortable material of Ruby's cloak had wrapped her in a bundle of warmth. It took several moments for her hands to find an opening in the material and release her person from it. Weiss blushed at Ruby's amusement when she managed to free herself.

While Ruby looked none the worse for wear after their sleep, Weiss' hair decided it wouldn't cooperate this morning, frazzled strands refusing to stay tucked into her bun. She pawed fruitlessly at them, attempting to order the chaos.

Ren and Nora chuckled at their morning entertainment, further causing the heiress embarrassment. Their short hair proved no trouble in the mornings.

On the other side of the room, Glynda hadn't woken up. A line of drool dripped out of her mouth as she snoozed through the wake up call. James rubbed his hand over his face, scratching at the faint emergence of his beard.

"Morning." A new head nurse greeted them as she thumbed the off button on her scroll, ceasing the annoying alarm. "I hope you all slept well."

While the youngsters didn't have too many snide remarks to the nurse, due to their more malleable bodies, James and Qrow looked ready to rip her a new one.

"Would you mind waking Glynda, James?" She fiddled with a pen, spinning it between fingers as she read off a post-it note the Headmaster had scribbled instructions on. "Ozpin said you have much to do today and so little time to do it in."

"Why can't he tell me that himself." Qrow scanned the reception area, not finding the Headmaster anywhere. To the side, James prodded Glynda, afraid of the ticking bomb waiting underneath. "Where'd he go?"

"He left when I took over for Xanna, so around 0300. He said he had things to do and took a ship back to Beacon."

"Fucking bastard." Qrow developed a twitch. A sharp crack resounded off James' face as Glynda subconsciously snapped her riding crop in her morning haze. "Come on midgets, let's check up on your friends and then chase down the Headmaster."

The students scrambled after the crow through their lethargy, passing the General with a red mark on his cheek. In the wee hours of daybreak, the hospital grew in life; many more people roamed the halls.

Qrow cut a swathe around the many orderly until he reached the emergency room's desk.

" , how are my three charges?" He managed to grab the attention of the head of ER, who looked at him quizzically.

"Any particular reason you're here and not Ozpin?" She finished lining up a stack of papers against the table. "You know you're not allowing to be here after the last time?"

"Didn't get the memo." He smiled disarmingly. "He left sometime during the night leaving them in my care."

"Right, like I'm suppose to believe he left you in charge of children." He grinned weakly, caught in the act. She shoved the stack of papers at him. "Doesn't matter to me. You know the drill. They're all in room 0016."

"Thank you dear Allison." He took the stack of papers. She knew him too well. He turned back to the corridor they had left, the students dutifully following. "I'll try to not break the ordinance too often."

" , you didn't even ask if they were ready to be discharged." Weiss interrupted their silent walk. "How do you know they're ready?"

"I don't." He opened the sliding door, brushing aside the vertical shades which provided a smidgen of privacy to its occupants through the glass walls. "But they're huntresses. They heal fast."

The room's residents perked up at the sound of the door sliding open. Yang was stabbing her breakfast, mutilating the poor eggs and sausage. Blake was reading a book whose cover she hid behind the bed sheets. Pyrrha had her eyes closed in meditation.

"Yang!" Ruby rocketed up onto the bed. Yang barely managed to push her breakfast table away before her little sister slammed into her midsection. Ren and Nora moved to Pyrrha's side while Weiss sat on Blake's bed. "How you feeling?"

"Well, eating is a bit hard." She waved the stump of her right arm animatedly. "You know, because of a lack of a certain appendage."

"Qrow says we can get you a new one. General Ironwood had his entire right arm, leg and chest replaced with cybernetic parts." She grabbed Yang's stump and began to check it over. "I'll even help you design it."

"You're entirely too energetic about playing with my replacement arm Rubes." She managed to pull her arm free from Ruby's inspection. "We're painting it gold though."

"He said we could do that too." Yang chuckled at the thoughtfulness of her uncle.

"We'll also have to create another gauntlet." The gauntlet she had on her person when she'd been admitted had been removed and placed on her bedside.

"Sorry." Team RWBY's other bedridden member spoke, closing her book and hiding it under her pillow. "I was more concerned with escaping my homicidal former mentor."

"The person who did this to you two was your mentor?" Weiss twisted and lifted her hanging legs, crossing them on Blake's bed to face her. "I'm assuming he comes from your time in the White Fang."

Team JNPR's turned to Team RWBY in shock. Qrow watched the fallout, waiting to step in if needed.

"You were once a member of the White Fang?" Nora asked for her entire team.

"Once." She sighed as her past was dredged up, but smiled genially at them. "Not anymore. There was a time when I believed in their cause, and I still do, but when they turned to violence I left and found myself at Beacon."

"You knew this?" Pyrrha asked the Headmaster's right hand.

"Of course." He leaned against the glass wall, sword at his side. "I watched as Ozpin interviewed her."

"Will you judge me on my past?" Blake may not have shown it on her face, but she didn't want to lose the few friends she had at Beacon. "I'll understand if you do."

"You're an idiot Blake." Pyrrha chastised the Faunus. "If Team RWBY can accept you then so can we."

"Thank you." Blake swiped a tear from her eye, happy she found another group who'd accept her.

"Does anyone know where Jaune is?" Pyrrha noticed the lack of her team leader, but held her tongue until Team RWBY had had their reunion.

"He's recovering at Beacon. We couldn't take him with us and we didn't have the time to find him. You had an injury Ren couldn't treat on the field, unlike Yang's and Blake's." Pyrrha made to protest but a raised hand stopped her. "Don't worry. Apparently Ozpin assigned a team to Beacon and they found him."

"Ren treated us?" Yang and Blake looked over to the quietest member of Team JNPR, who they noticed wasn't wearing his usual tailcoat and instead had a green scrub covering his torso. "Thank you."

Ren nodded at their thanks, grateful his minimal training in the medicinal arts had saved his friends.

"You also own him a new shirt." They sent Qrow puzzled expressions. "He's wearing a new shirt so I assume he used it to patch you up."

"The colour matches the old one." Yang noted.

"Are you here to discharge us?" Blake broke the lull in the conversation.

"Since Ozpin decided to abscond back to Beacon, yes. You will continue your recoveries in Beacon." He handed the discharge papers to each patient, who looked over the legalese and signed their names on the dotted line. "Beacon was evacuated and cleared of enemy hostiles. The team Ozpin assigned also managed to retrieve your gauntlet Yang and offered to repair it."

"Oh yeah, you weren't there to see it Pyrrha, but there was this massive explosion and bombs going off and then older versions of Team RWBY popped out of nowhere." Nora used her arms and legs to gesture in the air, drawing out the mentioned explosions. "They downed a huge Grimm dragon and saved Pyrrha's life."

The following silence could be only be cut through by the razor edge of Crescent Rose.

"That's what Ozpin was hiding from me? A great big practical joke he managed to rope you all into?" He stared at Ruby exasperated.

"I didn't want to tell you. It was suppose to be a surprise." Ruby pouted cutely at him, saddened she couldn't see her Uncle's face when he saw the older team. "And it's not a joke. There really was a massive explosion and an older version of my team walked out of it. We saw it."

"Oh yeah, sure. I'll believe when I see it. Can you all walk? There's a bullhead waiting to take us back to Beacon." He said, unbelieving in the lie they were feeding him. He received hesitant nods in return. "Hmm. Your teammates will help you walk then. That's what they're there for."

Yang was the first to leap from her bed, more than relieved she no longer had to spend time on it.

Blake winched as she lifted herself to a seat and turned to dangle her legs over the bed's edge. Ruby and Weiss rushed to either of her sides as she lowered herself to the floor. She waved them away, leaning heavily on the bed. Taking a deep breath, she pushed off to a stand, throwing her team a weak smile.

Pyrrha eased down to the floor in a similar fashion, but as she placed her weight on her right leg, she collapsed. Nora and Ren threw her arms around their shoulders, helping her back to the bed.

"I'll go ask for a wheelchair." Qrow made for the door, placing his hand on the handle. "Ren, come with. Let the girls change out of their hospital gowns."

Yang and Blake moved over to their clothes, folded nicely and waiting for them on chairs by the doors. Nora grabbed Pyrrha's pile, bringing it to the redhead's side. The hospital had deemed it prudent to wash their clothes for them, bloodied as they were.

Due to the placement of the injuries on Yang and Blake, the attendings had left their clothing on their lower halves untouched.

Yang unfolded her jacket and inspected the sleeves, comparing the lengths. Next to the short sleeves, the cut sleeve looked nearly identical sans the cuffs. Her yellow crop top lay unblemished, its sleeves spared any tears.

She shimmied her hospital gown down her shoulders as her lone arm untied the strings, pooling it around her boots. She kicked the gown under the chair as she pulled her top over her head, struggling to fit it around her head and torso with only one hand. Taking her jacket, she slotted her stump into the sleeve before sliding her arm through the other sleeve.

"How do I look?" Sliding Ember Celica onto her wrist, she turned to a room full of blushing teenagers, who averted their faces when the unabashed Yang started stripping. "Oi, you prudes! I'm dressed."

"Do-o you have to be so open about undressing?" Weiss stammered through her blush, refusing to look at her teammate until it died down.

Yang stuck her tongue out and struck a coy pose, her hand trailing up her leg from her knee. She released a laugh as Weiss made eye contact from her peripheral and she flushed a deeper red.

While the foreplay between the two teammates ensued, Blake had turned towards the wall and gotten dressed. Her white undershirt fit snugly across her chest. She buttoned her vest across her waist, a diagonal tear on the fabric partially encircling the stitching on her abs. She turned back to her team, adjusting her vest, fingers gently probing the muscles around the forming scar tissue.

"Well?" She brushed off imaginary dust on her shorts as she presented herself, attaching Gambol Shroud to the electromagnetic plate under her blouse with a click.

Ruby and Yang gave her thumbs up while Weiss attempted to douse her flaming cheeks.

Pyrrha looked on in amusement as Nora tightened Pyrrha's breastplate, tying the leather strings and tucking them into themselves. Nora moved to fasten on her right cuisse and greave but Pyrrha waved her off, leaning forward to remove them from her left leg. She unlatched each and handed them to Nora.

"Nora, where's my skirt?" She frowned, unable to locate the garment among her possessions.

"The attendings had to cut it off to get to the arrow."

"Great. All I have is my briefs and my waist wrap." She banged her head against her inclined bed. "I can't leave."

A sudden knock on the glass partition startled the girls and the door slid open a fraction of a meter. A hand holding a pair of violet scrub pants poked through the blinds and tauntingly waved it at them. Ruby snatched it and brought it over to Pyrrha.

Pyrrha inspected the pants, playing with the material between her fingers. She tore each pant leg at the thigh, folding each detached sleeve and placing it by her side. Bending forward on her bed, she slipped her legs in one by one, avoiding placing any weight on her right hip.

"Alright, we're decent." Yang knocked on the door, letting Qrow and Ren know they could walk back in. Ren pushed a wheelchair through the door's threshold and rolled it to Pyrrha's side. She gently lowered down to the ground, balancing on her left leg and fell back onto the wheelchair, winching as her hip brushed the chair arm.

"Ruby, Weiss, I never managed to thank you for saving my life, so thank you." Pyrrha directed her gratitude as Ren wheeled her out to the hallway. Nora nearly dropped Pyrrha's armor, and Ren stopped pushing Pyrrha, both stunned at the piece of information.

"Well, Pyrrha it wasn't us, but if you don't believe us like Qrow then you're welcome." Ruby made to cover Weiss' mouth, preventing the already revealed surprise from being ruined but Weiss batted the hand away.

"You're welcome Pyrrha." Ruby sighed, hoping Pyrrha wouldn't believe Weiss. "Don't mention it."

Pyrrha, Blake, and Yang watched the two with suspicion, on edge about the two sides of the secret presented to them.

"You nearly died?" Nora choked back a sob, wiping a tear from her eye. Ren froze, hands white from gripping the wheelchair's handles.

"Sadly, it's an occupational hazard and one day, you may even have to deal with the loss of a teammate." Qrow leaned against the door frame, lecturing the first year students on one of the hardest possibilities a team could go through. "Thankfully, to Ozpin's secret friends, she is alive and well."

"We'll talk about it as a team when we get to Beacon and find Jaune." Pyrrha placated her teammates, resting her hand on Ren's and squeezing lightly. "Come on, let's go."

On her queue, the group filed out into the hallway, following the older Hunter to the elevator. Waiting for them by the doors stood Glynda and James

A quick press of the button opened the doors and they piled inside. Another press of a button and the elevator jerked upward, the same jaunty tune as before following their journey to the roof.

A bullhead, fueled and ready, sat on a landing pad with its side hatches slid open.

"Sorry about the bullhead. The transport ship was needed to assist the evac." Qrow said as he jumped up into the raised fuselage, grabbing a safety handle to pull himself into the ship. Ruby followed him, ready to assist Ren with Pyrrha. Ren lifted the wheelchair's handles onto his shoulders and Weiss guided it to Ruby.

With a sharp tug, the chair's wheels cleared the lip and Ruby locked the wheels.

"Thank you." Pyrrha played with her waist wrap, draped over her lap.

"You're welcome." The rest of her group boarded the plane, Yang slipping on her leap as her missing arm attempted to grasp onto a handle. Blake, thankfully, grabbed her other flailing arm and heaved, successfully dragging her onto the ship. They both fell against the aft wall, Yang on her back and Blake on her knees.

"That's going to be something I'm going to have to get used to." Yang panted, her hand rubbing the bandages concealing the sewn skin.

"Yeah…" Blake's face scrunched in pain having torn open a stitch hauling her partner in. She pressed on the bandages, alleviating the pressure. She leaned her head back, controlling her breathing. A smidgen of red bleed through the protective covering.

"You okay?" Yang took notice of Blake's intermittent releases of air. Her eyes fell upon Blake's abdomen, eyes widening at the results her clumsy actions caused. "You're hurt."

Blake pushed Yang's helping hand away, but it dodged around her hasty blockade and covered her hand, more for comfort than for practicality.

Blake weakly smiled, rotating her head along the wall to meet amethyst eyes. Her own eyes slowly closed as her aura worked to seal the reopened wound. Her head slid down until lightly colliding with Yang's shoulder.

She breathed in the scent of her teammate, the crisp smell of ash and ember invading her nostrils, as she shuffled into Yang's side. Her hand sought its mirror, landing on Yang's thigh before uniting in a tangle of fingers.

Ruby plopped down on Blake's other side with Weiss following her lead, both feeling left out from the other two team members. They collapsed against the wall, tangled in Ruby's red cloak. Ren and Nora took their place at Pyrrha's side and grabbed the overhead straps, bracing for takeoff.

A series of footfalls marked the boarding of Glynda and James. The last one on slammed the hatch shut, which sealed with a pneumatic hiss. The fuselage lights flickered on, bathing the occupants in fluorescence.

Within moments, the whine of the engines resonated against the eardrums of the passengers. The ship smoothly lifted from the pad, clearing the landing airspace of the hospital. Everyone jostled as the engines rotated forward, dropping in the air before the wings caught lift. Banking to the right, they angled a direct route to Beacon.

 _Before Daybreak; 0300 Hours_

Chocolate eyes snapped open when his biological chronometer let him know his set alarm was going off. Coupled with the change in shifts between the two head nurses, his clock was still accurate.

He rotated the various joints in his body after his short sleep, sending soft crackles rippling through his muscles. He grabbed his cane and dragged himself to a standing, observing the quiet reception.

In varying states only ragdoll physics could explain, his underlings sprawled across the room's seating arrangements. They would feel it in the morning. He chuckled wryly at their misfortune.

He choked his grip on his cane, silencing the usual clack it would create when he used it to walk. He greeted the two head nurses as he gestured in the air for a writing utensil and a pad of paper.

The new head nurse, Angela, handed him a post-it and pen. He wrote down brief instructions for her and pointed at the group behind him. Angela nodded at his orders, peeling off the post-it and tacking it to the computer screen.

He bade farewell to both of them and made his way to the elevator, the doors gliding open on precision milled bearings the instance his finger came in contact with the button. The harrowing tune played in an endless cycle on his way to the rooftop landing platforms.

He breathed a deep sigh as he left behind the enclosed area of the elevator where the song echoed off the walls. In front of him sat a dozen bullheads, give or take. A couple belonged to the hospital but the rest of them belongs to his forces. He beelined towards the nearest one.

Once on the platform he slid open the door and stepped inside. Dim lights flickered on, detecting motion in the cabin. He strolled the short distance to the cockpit and opened the door, revealing the double seats reserved for the pilot and co-pilot. He sat down on one, rested his cane against the console and swiveled his seat to face the front.

Several lights instantly lit up, registering his presence. The primary flight display shone on the center console in bright green, denoting the altitude and airspeed. He slotted his scroll into a molded recess and the ship beeped warmly as it read his credentials.

The centre stick fought him for control before giving it to its master and allowed the ship to rotate its engine to vertical. Throttling forward once at a safe altitude, he banked towards his school, mentally preparing himself for the coming hours.

Six hours ago, he witnessed his theory of multiverses proven true. A team which shouldn't exist without displacing the current one punched into his universe.

Remnant's moon shone in its full form, illuminating the quiet countryside. Not a Grimm in sight. The ship's silhouette glided towards the academy, black against the midnight.

He raised an elegant eyebrow as he approached the school, barely able to make out the shape in the darkness. A single source of light twinkled in his tower, the rest of the buildings bathed in the moonlight.

Not a single shred of evidence existed to prove they were actively performing the duty he had bestowed on them.

Ozpin pressed his craft through the airspace above the landing platforms which brightly lit up upon detecting motion. The adjacent pads lit up in sequence, illuminating the objects resting on them.

Landing on the centre platform, he wasted no time in securing the ship before leaping down onto the pad. He slowly raked his gaze over the surrounding land, taking in the serene peace the invasion had robbed from this place.

The landing platforms to his left was piled high with the disassembled bodies of Knight and Paladin. The platforms to his right was crammed with bullheads, wings meshing with the engines of others. They all looked combat ready, their hulls barely scratched.

He stepped forward, his foot impacting on the metal flooring. A miniature glyph, barely the length of his boot pulsed briefly before disappearing. His scroll vibrated with an incoming message.

 _Welcome back Headmaster._

Team RWBY were more than thorough in their orders. Only one other part of the invasion was missing and he feared what the team had done with them.

The lone Hunter walked along the path, each footfall accompanied with a glyph, through the maintained lawn. A gentle wind rolled through the short grass, a faint scent of fire catching his attention. He recognized the metallic tang hiding in the fresh air but gave it no thought. It confirmed his suspicions.

In front of him loomed the tallest tower on the grounds; the CCTS tower. It parted the sunrise, casting him in shadow. Gouges along the tower marked the spots the Grimm Dragon perched and the missing stone lay strewn across the plaza.

The atrium looked remarkably untouched sans the rent open elevator doors. Ozpin moved towards an unmarked section of the wall, pulled out his scroll and held it over a hidden scanner. The scroll chimed and light up green as the section of wall receded and split along the middle, revealing an elevator.

Ozpin waltzed into the pristine elevator, unblemished from the assault. He thumbed the button for his office, scanning his scroll again.

As the elevator doors closed, the blasted elevator tune turned on, the very same the hospital used. Without missing a beat, he started humming along, bolstering his own mood in light of the events prior. He would never tire of the tune.

Ozpin stepped into his secured office, barely batting an eye at the presence of a team within. He zeroed in on his bar and prepared a batch of hot chocolate, needing it for the coming hours of interrogation.

The team leader, Ruby, stood facing away from him, gazing over the impressive panorama the office had over Vale. Blake sat at his desk, quickly typing in commands into the keyboard, her uncovered ears twitching at the his presence. Weiss partially leant and sat on the desk by Blake's side, quietly watching over the screen the Faunus worked on. Yang sprawled across a couch, positioned next to another containing the missing member of Team JNPR.

Ruby followed the Headmaster's form as he placed the finishing touches on his cocoa. She lifted a cookie to her mouth, breaking a pliable chunk and swallowing the chocolate chip piece.

He stirred his cocoa as he made his way to his desk, mirroring the position the heiress took. Lines of code rained upward as Blake inputted keystrokes faster than he could read them. She paid him no mind.

"What are you doing?" He needed to know. The computer housed the heart of the academy's database. "I'm trying to follow along but you're outpacing my reading speed."

"She's ransacking your system looking for the virus which allowed Cinder to take control over the Atlesian androids and ships." Weiss answered for her, gently swaying her legs. "She's also initiating a statewide wipe and reset along every relay station."

"I've noticed you haven't said a word to me since I met you." He sighed as Blake shifted her ears to lay flat against her hair. "You even let Miss Schnee speak for you which leads me to believe you have trouble speaking, or you can't."

Blake tilted her head to indicate the latter. Her fingers tapped another few keys before the system died, the holographic screen disappearing in a blink. She brushed her thumb over the reset button and the system lit up again.

"She's done." Weiss spoke as Blake stood from his seat, offering it to its rightful owner. "And call us all by our first names. Miss Schnee makes me feel old."

He sat at his desk and inputted his passcode, revealing a plain desktop.

"Thank you for your work." He pulled up a notepad on the screen, ready to jot down any relevant notes he'd need to remember later. "Time to explain yourself. I entrusted you with my school to test your mettle and you proved yourselves enough."

"We told you we're from the future." He nodded. Weiss rummaged among her pack and wrenched two SSDs from the depths and handed it over to him. "This drive contains every major event from the last four years of our timeline."

"It includes our history, profiles, the Hunter forces' profiles, our intelligence, enemy intelligence, rumors, base locations, data et cetera." Ruby rattled off the contents within as Ozpin plugged the drive into his computer. "It saves us the trouble of delivering a verbal or written report."

"I see you planned this out." The drives opened in his explorer, filled to the brim with compressed folders, each labeled meticulously. He opened the first file; a file containing the information about their forces.

The folder uncompressed into dozens of folders, each named after the four letter acronyms of the team they represented. Next to to each folder, columns denoted the team's clearance and rank.

He scrolled down the list until he found team RWBY and read off the three columns.

"Team RWBY, Clearance: High Command (0), Rank: S-SS." He sounded incredulous at the last column. He received blank stares in return.

"Two of my team's members are ranked SS while the other two are ranked S." Ruby blandly stated, almost amused in her tone. "Guess which ones?"

He didn't have to. He opened the sub folder and several folders spanned the window, one for each member, another titled Serenity, yet another for operations, and other miscellaneous.

"Yang Xiao-Long and Weiss Xiao-Long are both SS ranked, while Ruby Rose and Blake Rose are S ranked."

"Take the fun out of it, why don't you." Weiss ran a hand through her hair, tousling it messily.

"Didn't realize you were married." He pouted at the pairings.

"You sound disappointed." Yang noticed his exaggerated emotions.

"I just lost a lot of Lien." He opened a large spreadsheet on his desktop and swiveled it to the side to show the team. Each column denoted a ship and each row denoted a professor or Huntsman. Each Huntsman had monetary values placed in the column of their choice. "This is, or was, the betting pool for academy pairings."

At the top of the list, his own name had a thousand lien under BlakexYang and another thousand under JaunexPyrrha. Glynda had a five-hundred under RubyxJaune and five-hundred under BlakexYang.

"None of you look surprised." The team continued to scan the sheet, looking for their own names in the columns.

"Blake and I created our own version for our forces." Weiss ran a finger along the columns and stopped on the column with her and Yang's name. Underneath the column, only one row held a value.

"Qrow is going to be very, very happy." Ruby let out a resigned sigh. "Just what he needs. More money to feed his habits."

"Not really." Weiss chimed in. "Whatever happened in our world isn't guaranteed to happen in this world."

"Good time for an explanation, since the amalgamation of our Semblances didn't work properly." Ruby asked of her.

"Time travel has three main theories behind it, with several lesser theories branching from each one. The first one states all events in a timeline are fixed and cannot be changed, no matter what. This is called a fixed timeline. The second theory, the dynamic timeline, states altered events have a definite impact on the present, yet this theory is inherently problematic as it allows for the creation of paradoxes. The universe doesn't allow for the generation of them, so the second theory flies out the window."

She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts.

"I'm a damn good physicist, even if I didn't attend university. With the second theory out, it only left the first and the third. The first theory is useless as it ruined the point of the time travel. So, I worked around it and went along with the third theory, knowing we'd come into a new universe instead of actually going back in time."

"You knew your glyph wouldn't work properly, yet you kept it from me?" Ruby narrowed her eye, yet her voice unwavered.

"The whole point of the technique was to fix events we had no control over. The first and second theories didn't allow so. I knew how much you wanted it to work they way it should have, having us return to our younger bodies in our own universe. Instead we punched into a new universe, still in our own bodies. I kept it from you because with this technique we could prevent another universe from falling rather than us dying in defense of our world. I'm sorry."

She hung her head low, unable to meet her leader's gaze. Ruby stepped over to her and raised her hand, ready to deliver punishment. Weiss flinched and shut her eyes, waiting for the slap to the back of her head. She snapped her eyes open when a hand gently pat her cheek. Ruby pulled her into a hug, resting her head on top of hers.

"Thank you." Her voice lowly rumbled. Weiss let a tear trail down her cheek. A short silence descended in the office as Ozpin continued to rummage through their file.

"Who is Serenity?" The team's folder's lay spread across his desktop. "Every other file seems to be in its proper folder, yet Serenity has her own leading me to believe she's a fifth member of a four man cell."

"She's our daughter." The team members who could articulate speech replied to him in sync. He simply raised an eyebrow.

"Adopted I assume unless one of you found a sperm donor and carried a child." He hovered his mouse over the folder, waiting for their permission. "Though none of you look older than twenty."

"Just open the file Ozpin. Anything on the drive is yours to peruse freely." Yang snapped at the impatient Headmaster. He did just so.

It opened to reveal nothing vaguely similar to a profile. One file was a blueprint while a folder was titled maintenance. He stretched the blueprint across his screen, marvelling at the design within.

"She's our daughter. We all had some part of building her." Yang couldn't tear her gaze from the display. "Sadly, we couldn't take her with us when we made the jump. So I request access to one of Beacon's hangers and two of the seized bullheads."

"Why two of them?" He opened several applications, one of which pertained to the hanger allotment. "I can give you hanger two for about two weeks. Hand me your scroll so I can give you the access code."

"We need two of them as one provides the frame and the other spare parts. You'll need to register the scroll in the system first." Every team member pulled out their respective scroll and placed it on his desk. "We tried to use them to communicate with each other and realized they didn't work."

"Which explains why you broke into my office. How'd you do it?"

"Your balcony isn't secure." Ruby blandly deadpanned, revealing the most glaring flaw in his design. "One of your windows was open."

He sweatdrop.

He grumbled discontentedly as he activated and registered each scroll, giving each the required clearance they required. He handed them back to each member who tucked them away in their respective spots.

"Alright, next question." He took a long draught from his mug before continuing, "How did you, Ruby, come to possess the title of High Command? No one knows the title even exists save for the few I keep around personally."

"Open the History folder from the drive."

"There's no way you girls planned to put a History folder…" His words faded into indistinguishable mumbles as he located the History folder. "I'll be damned."

"After Weiss designed the last ditch effort technique to have us jump in time, we deemed it prudent to store as much data from our time onto the drive." Ruby said, unmoving from her rigid stance. "Serenity already acted as a backup for all of our information. We simply took it with us."

"You've mentioned several times over your time jump technique for your last hope."

"The file doesn't exist yet as it happened less than twenty four hours ago. If you look over each folder pertaining to a major event in history, you'll find over a dozen smaller reports which Weiss and I broke down into one final report." She dragged her fingers along to scroll the list before pressing the event labelled 'Battle of Beacon'. "This is the first event we deemed important enough to catalogue and it just finished a few hours ago in this timeline."

Ozpin scanned the provided report, glazing over the dense and detailed writings of Weiss and skipped over to the casualties list.

"Around two hundred died?" He continued reading. "You lost the school and the CCTS?"

"Our greatest bastion was lost. We could have reclaimed it but we saw no point in it. We had neither the funds or materials to rebuild the tower." Ruby scrolled down for Ozpin, drawing his attention to the conclusion of the report. "We went underground and waged our war."

"And what of Vale's council?" While the council irritated him at best, they should've provided the funds necessary for the rebuilding of such a critical infrastructure.

"What council?" Summer remarked blandly. "You mean the council that completely ignored the advice of their special forces commander and blindly thrust Vale into a war with Atlas? That council?"

"They ignored every advice High Commander Qrow gave them, ignored his pleas to give General Ironwood a chance to explain, and ignored the special forces under their thumb." Ozpin continued to read the report, going back to the dense paragraphs and reading them over carefully.

"It's interesting. I'm declared MIA, Qrow steps up to take my place, James is vilified, and the Hunters fracture from the core military." He resisted the urge to petulantly bang his head on his desk. "After Qrow, I take it you took his place as the High Commander.

Ruby nodded an affirmative.

"The next four years was an extended guerilla war against the White Fang, the Grimm and Salem's faction." Ozpin perked up at the mention of her name. "In our final battle, the one not yet listed in our archive, we went in with over three thousand Hunters and came out with only four. Not four hundred, but four. The four standing in front of you."

Ozpin stilled. From what they were telling him, they have gone directly from a cataclysmic defense to a time jump, not given the time to rest or grieve for their comrades.

"Yang, upload Serenity's final transmissions from your scroll." Ruby interrupted Ozpin's continued barrage of questions with a raised hand. "Just read through everything. It'll answer most of the questions. We can deal with registering our team later. Point us to our quarters and we'll meet around noon today, after lunch."

"Fine. I've already given your scrolls access to the room next to the current Team RWBY." He waved them away, taking another drink of his cocoa. "Do get cleaned up and enjoy your rest. The smell of blood doesn't beget you. Dismissed."

How little he knew until he delved deeper into their archive.

Team RWBY grabbed their packs and slung them over their shoulders. The prospect of hot showers, comfortable beds and Beacon's delicious food hung in their minds.

"Headmaster, would you also be kind enough to write up two marriage licenses and certificates?" Ruby caught Ozpin's attention as her team filed into the elevator with their packs. "We didn't get a chance to do so in our own timeline. If you're wondering how Weiss got the last name of Ironwood, then just check the files."

He mutely nodded before bringing his attention back to the treasure trove of data the team had graciously gifted him.

As the elevator doors shut, a catchy jingle began to play from the ceiling's hidden speakers. Each member hummed or tapped along with the beat, waiting for the elevator to reach the ground level.

Idly shifting their packs, they trudged out of the car and meandered towards the tower's entrance, taking careful note of the damage around them; most was simply aesthetic.

The early morning provided minimal light, even with the moon reflecting light onto the surface of Remnant. Weiss still hadn't figured out how the moon's pieces perpetually hung in its orbit, and it ticked her off.

The silence draped on the school would have frayed the nerves any Hunter on the premises, simply unaccustomed to Beacon being empty rather than the boisterous academy it was during the day. Even at night, the sounds of nocturnal students and craft moving in the airspace provided a break from the absolute nothingness.

The team ignored it. They had seen their school fall and this was a living heaven compared to theirs.

Weiss generated a glyph at their feet, angled it forward and released the energy, sending the team flying through the air to land on the nearby rooftop. One after the other, they broke into runs, following their leader in a haphazard trail towards the dormitories.

The added danger of errant rubble strewn in their path provided light entertainment to them as they adjusted their courses minutely to avoid them. Throughout their route, none of them stopped observing their surrounding, mentally noting which parts of the school Ozpin would have to repair.

With a final impact of boots onto concrete, they arrived by the door leading to a descending staircase. Without pause, Ruby turned the handle and opened the door to complete darkness. She waved her hand in front of herself, waiting for the sensor to detect motion.

Blake drew her arm down, shaking her head at the amusement. She turned a flick a switch, its tiny form hidden from the moonlight streaming in through the open door.

Ruby's lip twitched, undecided between facepalming in shame for missing the switch or blushing in embarrassment for the same. Blake clicked her tongue, mimicking a laugh in her mute state.

Yang dutifully closed the door behind them, shutting out the outside world. Her heavy boots thudded against the wooden slats of the service stairs as she chased after her team, barely a second behind them.

The exceptionally wide hallways of Beacon were a welcome relief to the enclosed ones many of their bases held. Full windows allowed for ample sunlight and at night, moonlight to filter in. Another commodity many Hunters took for granted.

Memories shifted into place as their subconscious took their feet along a path they had memorized eons ago. They turned into a nondescript hallway; looking exactly as any other.

Yet this hallway held some of, if not most of the happiest memories the team shared together. The room on their right housed their sister team, Team JNPR, and the room directly opposite housed their team, or this universe's Team RWBY.

They marched forward, eyes glued to their old room as they passed in front of it, towards the room Ozpin had assigned to them.

Ruby scanned her scroll, confirming her identity. The latch unlocked with an audible shrill of metal in the silent corridor. Almost hesitantly, she strode into the room, the door running on oiled hinges.

Four beds, four desks, four chairs, and a wide bookshelf met their eyes. The room was stripped of all luxuries, leaving a bare minimum; the standard of every Beacon room before its resident team decorated it.

"Those beds are going to have to go." Weiss peeked over Ruby's shoulder. "Maybe we should get bigger beds too."

"Stop complaining." Yang scolded her wife, resting her elbow on her head. "Be happy we get these beds and not the usual cots."

Yang tossed her bag onto a bed, unzipped it and began to rummage about. she pulled out her night clothes, a towel and toiletries. The rest of the team got the idea. Weiss threw her bag next to Yang's and pulled out the same.

Ruby and Blake stalked over to the other bed, leaving the two remaining beds as a divider between the two couples. Rather than prepare for bed, Ruby and Blake started to rearrange the room.

Following Weiss' suggestion, Ruby pushed one bed off the wall, preparing it for transport to storage. She quickly absconded back to her bag and retrieved a multitool, placing it on her back. Blake copied her, attaching the tool to her own magnetic plate. The two stripped the bed of its sheets and pillows, throwing them to the side.

Once relieved of its decorations, the two hoisted the mattress from the frame over their shoulders. They awkwardly shuffled the weigh between themselves to fit it through the door. The dorm, thankfully had a storage room for excess furniture just around the corner.

They repeated the process of passing the mattress into the room and set it to rest against the wall where the other ones sat. They passed the rest of the team on the way back, Weiss using her glyphs to carry her share of the weight.

Unable to rest before the job was done, the duo marshalled on, with Ruby grabbing her multitool. Blake collected the slats from the frame and lashed them together with the lengthy ribbon of Gambol Shroud. Hoisting the resulting cord of wood onto her back, she repeated the walk to storage.

As she performed her task, Ruby began to disassemble the frame. Screws flew from Ruby's masterful manipulation of the tool. The bed rails released from the steads, leaving the bed frame completely disassembled and ready for transport.

Across the room, Yang had partially finished the same task, releasing one bed rail from the frame.

"While you finish with your bed, I'm going to raid the kitchen...again." The team's cook, and leader, strode out of the room, catching Blake on her return trip back. She muttered the same on seeing her wife's questioning look. "Don't expect anything fancy. I'm tired."

Without another word, she disappeared down the hallway, lightly channeling her Semblance to carry her to the kitchen faster.

"Where'd Ruby go?" Weiss walked back into the room after her second trip.

"Food." Yang wiped off a bead of sweat forming on the side of her head. "Don't expect anything fancy."

"If she gets an MRE I'll be happy." Weiss rolled a piece of frame onto a raised glyph. She continued spawning glyphs underneath the piece, pushing it forward on the frictionless surface. "I'm starving."

The team's stomachs rumbled in unison, agreeing with the sentiment.

Blake lashed the four beds rails together, repeating the process, but instead of hoisting it onto her back, she placed them behind Weiss, taking advantage of the system. Weiss blew a strand of hair out of her eye in smug satisfaction.

Yang grabbed one of the last three bedsteads and placed it on the growing conveyer belt, sending it flying towards Blake with a word of warning. She lifted the remaining frames, her muscles rippling under the strain, and followed the monochromatic duo to storage.

She caught up as Blake pulled the bed rails from the glyph and placed them against the foot of the wall, rewrapping her ribbon back onto her forearm. Striding through the fading glyph set, she placed the frames inside and turned off the light.

Their return to room was sedate until their noses caught the whiff of food. Blake had characteristically smelt the food first and dashed ahead of them, leaving them confused until their less refined noses caught on.

"I got us MREs. I did say 'nothing fancy'." Ruby sat on the floor, fork raised to her mouth with mouth watering BBQ. Three steaming packs rested against her thigh, waiting for anyone to claim them. "Blake has tuna, Weiss has chicken with noodles and Yang has Mistal-style beef strips."

Yang skipped over to her sister and planted a kiss on her head, reached down and plucked Weiss' and her food from the ground. Blake lifted her own food packet and sniffed its contents, a pleased smile growing on her face. She sat to Ruby's side, leaning against the bed, and nudged her lover with her foot in thanks.

Yang handed Weiss one of the packets before moving to demolish her own. The poor packet lasted seconds against the endless black hole of her stomach. The beef strips and fried rice disappeared down her gullet before she tore into the snack bread provided. She patted her stomach in contentment.

"Join me in the shower when you're done." She threw the empty pack into the rubbish, grabbed her bathroom kit and zipped away. Intent on getting to sleep as fast as she could and saving water, she also scarfed down the packet's contents.

Ruby and Blake watched on, bemused as they ate their food more slowly. There was only one shower stall and four was a crowd.

Weiss helped the last noodle into her lips with her thumb before she disappeared into the washroom. She tossed the packet into the bin on her way past.

A comfortable silence blanketed the room, only broken by the movement of the cheap, plastic utensils and mouths moving to crush the delectable food. The scrape of plastic on the bottom of the pack disappointed the Faunus, who wanted more of the seasoned lemon pepper tuna.

Ruby chuckled at Blake's dismay. She set aside her own empty pack and scooted over to her, copying her sitting position.

"Don't worry." Ruby brushed Blake's ears, which had flattened at their master's emotions. "You can have more later."

Her ears perked up at the prospect.

"I hope no one else abuses the power of fish against you." She continued to chuckle as Blake pouted. "I might lose you if they learn of your weakness."

Blake said nothing and shuffled away from Ruby, before dropping her upper body down onto Ruby's lap. She shifted to settle into Ruby's lap and closed her eyes, waiting to drift off into bliss.

She only got so far before a flick to her forehead snapped her out. She glared up at Ruby, demanding an explanation.

"You don't get to sleep until we've showered." Blake rubbed the growing red spot on her olive skin. "We deserve a hot shower after Vale's fall."

Blake reached up and caressed Ruby's cheek, consoling the young leader. The world had asked much of her, yet she was only a mortal against the terrifying might of nature.

A cacophony of giggles erupted from bathroom as Weiss and Yang stumbled into the bedroom, dripping water onto the carpet. Weiss moved the packs onto the floor, but not before retrieving a wide tooth comb.

Yang sat on the edge of the bed, folding her hands on her lap and patiently waited for Weiss to begin her job. Weiss bound onto the bed and kneeled behind Yang. Yang's hair clung to her night shirt, golden locks stained a deep brown from the water.

Weiss placed the handle of the comb between her teeth as her hands began the arduous process of untangling Yang's hair. With a towel, she drained as much water from the soaked tresses. Yang hummed and closed her eyes as Weiss catered to her needs.

Calloused fingers wedges between strands and ran down the length of Yang's mane, splitting tangles apart with practiced ease. Weiss continued the process several times, making sure to catch even the smallest snags hidden within.

Watching the duo with the hint of a smile, Ruby dragged Blake up from the floor. Grabbing their clothes and toiletries, they vanish into the bathroom, needing to wash the day's toils down the drain. Ruby took a double take at the sheer amount of water the previous occupants had thrown about the confines.

Yang, subject to the tender mercies of her wife, waited for Ruby to reprimand her on the mess they left, but was supremely disatisfied when the red demoness failed to reappear. Weiss tutted at her failed plan, continuing with her mission.

She removed the comb from her mouth, ready to begin the final part. With careful precision, she ran the comb, shifting it to dislodge the tangles she missed. Starting from the end of her hair, she worked upwards, combing the hair to the side.

With a final tug of the comb near Yang's hairline, she dropped the comb back into her bag. She removed the hair tie from her wrist and styled Yang's hair into a ponytail. Yang ruffled her fingers through her hair, checking through Weiss' work.

She rewarded her with a kiss.

A playful smirk made its way across Yang's face as she pushed Weiss down onto the bed. She lifted the covers and shimmied under them. With a small amount of effort, Weiss found herself under them as well. They automatically sought the other and drifted into oblivion, grateful for the chance to do so.

Ruby and Blake stepped out into their shared living space, toweling their hair off. With a few more pats and passes over their heads, their short hair was dry; dry enough to fall asleep at least. Blake had never been more thankful Ruby had forced her to cut her hair.

Blake smiled wistfully at the sleeping pair. Weiss curled into Yang's side, resting her head on Yang's shoulder as Yang wrapped her arm around Weiss and pressed her into her side. Weiss had tucked her head under Yang's chin, quite content on their sleeping arrangement.

Ruby and Blake, however, had a different sleeping arrangement. Weiss's smaller stature allowed her to fit comfortable into Yang's larger frame. Their similar heights forced them to share the bed equally, curling up in each other's arms.

Climbing in together, they joined their sisters in the land of never the second they closed their eyes.

 _Airspace above Vale_

A comfortable silence descended throughout the fuselage. The rising sun peeked through the sapphire windows, shining its light on the faces of Team RWBY. Scattered beams glinted across the threshold, reflected from various weapons, armor and body parts.

No one had much to say on their ride to the school, each person simply enjoying the quiet after the dealing with the influx of hostiles the night before.

The ship jostled in the morning turbulence, shaking off excess speed as it approached the landing platforms. Qrow inspected the available landing zones, grimacing at the two pads taken up by scrapped droids, mechs, and bullheads. He chose the closest pad to the main route to the school and landed the craft.

James opened the sliding hatch and leapt to the ground. He turned to observe the the city, gazing on the unchanged scape. Any damage done to the city was minimal enough that his eyes couldn't make it out. Glynda and Qrow stepped to his side, watching the students pile off the bullhead.

Ren and Ruby teamed up to lower Pyrrha from the craft while the rest of their teams spilled onto the platform. The grouped up behind their elders and waited to move into the school.

They observed the carnage and loot piled around them. Disembodied androids and mechs littered one platform, while another held enough bullheads to resupply the Hunter fleet for another year, even with heavy casualties.

The rag tag team of Hunters and students strolled along the path towards the school. The utter lifelessness of their surroundings set most of them on edge. For the first time in living memory, the school was empty. Even the air complied to their somber mood; still.

In front of them loomed the most imposing tower on the grounds; the CCTS tower. It parted the sunset, casting the group in shadow. An odd sense of deja vu overtook the group as they basked in the tower's shadow.

The atrium looked the same from the last time Pyrrha had been in it. As the group moved towards the Headmaster's private elevator, the doors slid open, waiting for them to board the car.

"He's watching us." More than used to Ozpin's antics, Qrow looked over to a convenient camera bolted in the corner of the lobby. It moved in a human mimicry of a nod, telling them the Headmaster was indeed watching them.

The group of ten shoved into the elevator, making space for Pyrrha's wheelchair. Weapons pressed against fleshy body parts making them shift around to avoid them.

As the elevator doors closed, the blasted elevator tune turned on, the very same the hospital used. Without missing a beat, Qrow started humming along and not long after James joined it. It spread to the younger members and created a lighter atmosphere in light of the events.

Glynda remained the only one not humming and simply looked annoyed as she had to listen to the damned tune amplified.

"Took you awhile to get here." Ozpin greeted them before the doors had fully opened. "Did you enjoy my wake up call?"

"Good morning to you too Oz." Qrow broke from the group, striding forward into the office. "Anything new with you since you decided to ditch us earlier this morning?"

"I learned many things this morning." He took a sip of his cocoa and further delved into his computer, browsing through what seemed to be endless folders and files. "Thank you for asking."

"Anything you care to share?" Glynda twitched an eyebrow upward, showing her annoyance. She clearly didn't enjoy her wake up call.

"You may have noticed a massive pile of wrecked Atlas robotic personnel on one of the landing pads." They group nodded, having taken notice of said pile. "Those are for you James. They've been disassembled and are waiting for repossession."

"I'll have to give my thanks to the team you assigned. From the look of things, their cores remain intact." He stepped around Ozpin's desk and leaned forward, eager to glimpse at whatever had taken Oz's attention so raptly. "There is a pesky rumor going on that this team is from the future."

"Yes." Ozpin quickly navigated the drive to display the Hunter roster. "They were more than thorough in following my orders, if not enthusiastic."

"Ruby told me it was an older version of her team." Qrow scoffed laughter as he uncapped his flask and took a drink. "You mean to tell me it's true?"

"Unless Summer had another child who looked exactly like Miss Rose over there, and the other three members of the team were cloned and aged faster than usual, then yes, it's true."

"You could have just said yes." Glynda sweatdrop at the long winded explanation. "Learn anything about them?"

"I learned some things." He placed his empty mug on a coaster and pushed it aside. "If you wish to know more about them, you'll have to ask them yourselves."

"Not going to tell us anything?" Ozpin shook his head. "Not even where their room is?"

"Let them sleep. They've been awake for over 36 hours. They may not have shown it, but they were exhausted after keeping watch over my school. They gifted me with a drive containing an exorbitant amount of information and I've spent the last three hours drowning in it." He swiveled the screen towards the group. Displayed on it were four folders, titled to each member of Team RWBY.

He'd taken the liberty of changing their names back to their originals until they let him release their relationships to the public.

"I suggest you go down and laze the day away until they wake up. I'll warn them to expect a horde of fangirls with questions." He chuckled at his own joke. "The kitchens are open if you're hungry and I have no doubt you are."

With his parting words, they all began shuffling back towards the door.

"Don't forget your wayward leader, Team JNPR." Ozpin gestured to the young lad spread haphazardly across a couch, snoring lightly. "I'm surprised we haven't woken him up with all this chatter."

"Jaune!" Nora strode over to the sleeping buffoon. She leant over, placing her mouth next to his ear. "Jaune!"

The blonde snapped awake, flailing his arms randomly in the air. Planting his feet on the ground, he attempted to stand, only to fail as his vision darkened and vertigo overtook his sense of balance. His teammates laughed lightly at his struggles with Team RWBY joining them.

"What'd I miss?" Jaune groggily slurred through the morning fog bank in his brain. "Where's Pyrrha?"

"Right here." Pyrrha waved jauntily at him, the usual smile reserved for Jaune on her face. "I'm fine. No need to worry."

In the background, Ozpin pulled up the pairing list and attempted to fudge some bets before Glynda harshly smacked him over his head. His discontented grumbles filled the office space.

"So...uh...what'd I miss." A sound of crickets joined Ozpin's grumbles as Qrow took the liberty to answer him with a conveniently installed scroll application.

"I'm sure your team would be happy fill you in." James, Qrow and Team RWBY left clouds of dust in their wake as they charged into the elevator and nearly lost fingers as the doors closed, seemingly sensing their hurry.

Jaune alternated eye contact between his three teammates, his cerulean eyes begging for answer. His team shied away, no member knowing where to begin the story they'd been thrown into over the last dozen hours.

"We'd like to tell you, but you'll find out in a few hours nonetheless." Ren closed the subject. "Us telling you would be a poor comparison to witnessing."

"Witnessing what?" Jaune called to his team as they walked to the elevator with Ren pushing Pyrrha along. He surged forward to catch up with them as they patiently waited for the elevator car. "Witnessing what?"

"You'll have to wait and see." Nora watched as the light of the car shone through the crack of the exterior doors. Jaune hung in head petulantly, unable to extract the needed information. They moved into the elevator and journey down to the earth.

 _Inside the Elevator Car_

Team RWBY, Qrow and James let loose sighs of relief as the elevator descended along its tracks down to the lobby. They were so relieved they never noticed the haunting melody playing from the speakers.

"Food?" Qrow queried the group as the doors opened to reveal the atrium they had left less than an hour prior.

A clashing symphonies of agreements answered his question. The sound of engines caught their attention as they left the sanctity of the tower.

The Hunters wasted no time in returning to the school. Dozens of bullheads held positions above the landing pads, waiting for the unloading craft to leave and divert to the hangers for standby.

The main causeway connecting the school and the platforms looked akin to the first day of semester as groups moved along towards the campus. Evidently, sometime around sunrise, the Headmaster had given the all clear signal.

It was humorous watching them have to work around the single open landing pad. Glaring red LEDs blocked the first and third landing pad, leaving the second one to service the influx of Hunters. An unvoiced agreement passed between the pilots' minds as they worked out a method to efficiently deal with the rapidly filling airspace corridor.

Lost in the growing hubbub of Beacon in the morning, they arrived at the canteen, already opened for the hungry students and professors. Spread across the tables, the early risers commanded their holds on their territory.

James and Qrow frowned at the menu, staring incessantly at the brown cardboard boxes with a hatred reserved for their mothers-in-law, if they had any. They watched as students reached into the boxes and pulled out brown plastic packs.

Team RWBY took notice of their frowns of disgust.

"What is it?" Yang poked Qrow on his side, causing his to reflexively curl around the finger. She too had taken notice of the pouches.

"It seems the kitchen staff has been slacking in their duties and retrieved boxes of MREs as breakfast." They proceeded to the lunch counters and received a pack and a bottle of water for each. "It's decent food, but it's nothing compared to the usual menu Beacon serves."

They wound around the tables, choosing one at random near the windows and sat down, the six taking their places around it. Qrow and James sat on one side while the four team members sat on the other, creating a clear divide between seniority.

Qrow and James tore their packs apart, divulging the contents onto the table. Team RWBY followed their actions, spreading the contents in front of them. Each pack contained two packs for breakfast and a packet of pudding.

"This is food?" Weiss poked the food in disdain, shifting the packets around. "I wouldn't serve this is to my servants."

"Suck it up Schnee." Qrow ripped open his packet of muesli and poured some water in. Shifting the oats around with a spoon to disperse the water, he lifted the spoon to his mouth, savoring the most simple of breakfasts. "You're a soldier here, not a spoiled heiress."

She shut up after that, tearing her packet open and mimicked their actions. Her teammates had already done so, slowly devouring the breakfast. They had also torn open their packets of apple flakes, eating it side along with the muesli or pouring it directly in.

When they had finished with their breakfast, they greedily ripped into the pudding. It wasn't of the chocolate variety, which hugely disappointed Ruby, but was made from peach and pineapple.

"Get used to it." James shoveled the pudding into his mouth, noticing the young leader's expression. "Out in the field, this is gourmet.

"She's more disappointed it's not chocolate, not that it's pudding." Qrow answered to his side, placing the empty packet with the rest, ready to be thrown out.

"Oh." He grabbed his trash, piling it together in his arms and stood from the table. "I'm off back to the CCTS. Ozpin's going to need my help with this storm brewing around us."

"What do you brats want to do until we meet yourselves?" Qrow inquired after James left him with a pat on his back.

"I don't know." Ruby shrugged. "Usually class would be starting soon, but with the Vytal Festival down and summer starting, we really have nothing to do."

"Video games?" Yang stretched her arm behind her, forgetting she lacked the other arm to help her. She pantomimed reaching for her arm before sheepishly dropping both. She settled for rotating her arm in a circle. "Or we could go spar?"

"You and what arm?" Qrow remarked. "Video games require two hands to work with. You also can't go to the gym for at least a day. Doctor's orders."

"Like I'd actually listen to those. Besides, I'd like to at least figure out how to fight without one arm in case anything ever happens to my prosthetic."

"That's actually not that bad of an idea."

"I do have them sometimes." She puffed her chest out proudly. Qrow pondered the benefits and downsides of ignoring the doctor's fake orders before remembering who he was.

"Since when am I the responsible one? To the arena!" He stood and placed his foot on his seat and pointed towards the door. Team RWBY shared quick looks with their respective partners before sprinting towards the door, depositing their rubbish in the bins located in their paths.

The stifling heat slammed into them the moment they passed the safety of the canteen doors, causing them to slow down.

"Maybe sparring during the midday heat isn't the best idea." Ruby voiced her concern, her cloak starting to stick to her arms from her perspiration. Her team and uncle voiced their agreements, feeling the sun baking them in its heat. "Video games?"

They sped off to their room, eager to escape to climate controlled heaven.

* * *

AN: Chapter 4 is in the works. I've had them sitting in my Drive for several months, and finally decided to release all of the finished ones. After 4 is released, updates will slow down, as I've said before it takes me several weeks to finish one chapter. I started this story around December 2016. Enjoy.


	4. Four - Shards

Chapter Four

* * *

 **Shards**

* * *

 _Team High Command_

Four pairs of eyes sludged open, unwilling to tear their owners from the land of sleep.

Glacial blue melted opened onto a writhing sea of flames.

Alluring amethyst cracked opened to a vast expanse of snow.

Silver and gold clashed together in a bitter struggle for dominance before both accepted it was a fruitless endeavor.

Just their average morning ritual.

A horrifically adorable noise of petulance arose from the back of Weiss' throat as she attempted to slip back into the land of dreams, closing her eyes and nestling deep into the crook of Yang's neck.

Yang breathed in the scent of Weiss, the crisp scent of crystallizing water invading her nostrils. Weiss' hand curled up on her chest as her other snuck behind her neck and used it as leverage to bring herself closer to her.

"Ruby, I will murder you if you make us get us this early." Weiss' muffled voice sounded through the blockage of Yang's thick hair.

"It's past ten Weiss." Ruby dragged the covers off herself and Blake with her foot, pinching the soft material between her toes. Blake helped her out in the process, yet none made a move to actually leave the bed. "I know you know that."

"I don't hear you leaving your bed either." Yang could feel Weiss' smile against her skin. She sent a pulse of heat traveling to the palm of the hand resting against Weiss' abs, the hand having found its way there throughout the night.

"I don't want to, but I know we'll get nothing done if we don't get up." Blake dared her to move from their position, a lone ear twitching threateningly as the other was trapped under her own head.

"What's the problem with that?" Yang joined in on the cross room conversation, her fingers tracing the contours of Weiss' body as they traveled along, shifting her night shirt up.

"We have to unpack, sign our marriage certificates, start rebuilding Serenity, start toppling Cinder and the White Fang, deal with…" Ruby's voice couldn't get more dull if she tried, listing off the growing number of tasks their team had to accomplish.

Weiss groaned and hitched her leg up higher on Yang, straddling her while laying on her side and wrapping said leg around one of hers. Blake turned her head away from Ruby towards the pillow, showing her displeasure in the simplest of manners.

"It's simple." Ruby ran her finger through Blake's greatly shortened hair, smiling as Blake's ears reacted to her touch. Struggle as she might, they never failed to shy away from unexpected contact. "We can take a break, but it doesn't mean we can laze our days away."

Weiss released another noise as Yang's hand trailed its way up onto the upper half of her torso. She playfully batted it aside, scolding her wife with a glare before tearing herself from the heat generator and sitting up on the bed.

Part of her hair stuck up at a random angle from her sleeping arrangement. Yang laughed as she licked her fingers and massaged the stray hairs back into place. The cool metal of her hand was a sharp contrast to her usual warmth. A few more rough passes guided the hairs into a reasonable position, laying almost flat to the rest of her hair.

Weiss blinked several times, striking the last vestiges of sleep from her eyes, interspersing her efforts by wiping away the buildup of rheum from the corner of her sclera. She dislodged her legs from the covers and shuffled over Yang, eliciting a grunt from the woman as she pressed her body weight down on her on her way to the ground.

A shiver ran up her spine as her bare feet touched down on the laminate wooden flooring of their room. The sun filtering through the upper part of the covered windows did nothing to chase away the biting chill.

Blake turned from her position lying face down on her pillow, sliding her legs from under the covers, and prepared to go about the day. She gently swayed as her body cycled through waking the various functions needed to go about the day.

Ruby perched her head atop of Blake's and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Blake controlled her ears to brush against Ruby's cheeks, alternating their motions, one going forward while the other went backwards.

A few moments of the morning were spent in each others' embraces.

Ruby watched as Yang kicked away the covers towards Weiss, covering the girl with them. Yang propped herself on her elbows, grinning at her wife as she pulled the covers from head, further disorganizing her hair.

With a light nudge, Ruby pushed Blake to a standing, dislodging her arms and head from their places of rest. Shifting positions from kneeling to sitting, Ruby joined her, relishing in the feeling of sunlight dancing across her form.

Weiss attempted to persuade Yang out of bed, tugging at her arm to wrest her from prone. Yang made her job none the easier, acting as a limp puppet with its strings cut, refusing to use her muscles.

Yang slouched forward on the bed, bringing the soles of the feet together as she struggled to pull herself from blissful sleep. She arched her back and rotated her shoulder blades, sighing in relief as synovial fluid cavitated.

She brushed her hair with her fingers, fluffing the locks after their time spent drying, while sending Weiss a magnanimous smile at catching her ruffled state. Weiss stuck her tongue out at her.

As Yang tackled Weiss with a pillow, sending them tumbling onto the ground, Ruby and Blake moved towards their bags, abandoned by the side of the door after they trudged into the room. With only the bare essentials removed a few hours ago, the packs remained mostly filled.

Ruby knelt by her bag and began removing articles of clothing as she found them, placing them by her side. Seven days worth of clothing: an assortment of tees, rain gear, jeans, shorts, underwear, socks, and a pair of sneakers were pulled one by one from the pack. The last to be removed was a clear zipped bag containing oils, rags, a whetstone, a spare scroll, a wad of lien, and a few ration bars.

Blake removed a similar barrage of clothes from her pack, near identical except for the colour pallette and substituting sneakers for boots. Greys, blacks, and the occasional white joined Ruby's pile of crimson, maroon and burgundy. A similar waterproof bag containing the same materials sat at the very bottom.

While the two unpacked their spartan belongings, Weiss and Yang finished their wrestling match, the latter announcing her victory by pinning the former with her weight. Bucking her hips did her no good against her tallest teammate, and only encouraged her, treating Weiss like a wild bronco.

Weiss abandoned the struggle, laying her arms above her head and waited for Yang to graciously let her go. Placing her hands to either of Weiss' head, Yang leaned over, drawing a curtain of blonde around her. Weiss mustered her best puppy dog eyes, gazing directly into Yang's eyes.

Yang flinched at the melting ice of Weiss' eyes, averting her gaze. A whimper brought her attention back and she immediately regretted it. Rolling off of her partner, she conceded the small victory, taking the time to draw breath after their play.

In sync, Ruby and Blake continued unpacking their belongings. Footwear found their places on a floor mat near the door. Articles of clothing, bound tightly in rolls, were unrolled, refolded and placed in the provided dresser, each girl taking a drawer for themselves. They tossed the clear locked bags containing supplies on the desk.

Seeing their sisters unpacking sprung the lollygagging pair into action. With their morning haze broken from their earlier tousle, they moved with frighteningly efficiency and began unpacking.

Since the construction of Serenity, Ruby required every team member to pack and maintain a go bag on the ship. Each bag was packed relatively the same. Enough clothing to last a week or more, rain gear, boots or sneakers, if you were wearing them already, money, scrolls, and weapon materials.

As Weiss and Yang rummaged through their bags, Ruby unzipped one of the side pockets, removing a dozen rounds, ready to be slid into Crescent Rose. She placed the massive shells on the desk and shoved the now empty bag into her dresser drawer.

Weiss and Yang placed their medley of clothing in the remaining two unused drawers as Blake tucked her empty pack into the back of her drawer, but not before removing her own magazines and placing them near Ruby's rounds.

"It's weird." Yang spoke as she folded her clothes. "Everything we own is in this room."

"Not like we need much." Ruby answered her. "We have some funds if we're lacking anything, but Serenity will eat most if not all of it up until Ozpin decides to put us to work."

"I doubt he'll put us anywhere after he reads more closely into our profiles." Weiss hopped back into her bed, swaying her legs gently, breaking the beams of sunlight streaming through the window. "He'll keep us close and monitor our progress."

"We could always ask to operate out of Beacon, taking teaching positions until missions come up."

"By teaching positions, you mean Weiss and I, right?" Yang flicked Ruby on her forehead. "Neither us or Ozpin would ever let you near children without supervision."

"Which is why I'll ask if we can do lessons in tandem. Blake can't give verbal instruction and will rely on me or you two for help. I can't teach alone because of my fragile mental stability. And you get to teach a class together with Weiss. It's a win win for everyone, if Ozpin agrees to it."

"I'm sure he's in desperate need of students, who barely finished their first year, to teach."

"In our first year we only had three professors. I doubt be can resist graduates of our caliber."

"Not graduates. Only first years with an immense amount of battle experience." Weiss chided her leader.

"With all that experience, I say we graduated several times over." Ruby bit back, all the while pulling her night shirt over head. The bright pink cotton electrified her hair, causing hundreds of strands to stand at skewed angles.

Blake pawed at them, tongue sticking out in concentration, plastering the misbehaving strands back to Ruby's head. Ruby sent her a small grin in thanks at her work before fumbling around in her drawer, retrieving a mid-length sleeve tee. It would cover the worst of her scars.

From the top of their shared dresser, she also retrieved one of the electromagnetic backplates. Attaching the plate to her back, she completed her outfit with a pair of burgundy short shorts.

"Guess we'll have to dip into our funds a bit earlier than expected. We really don't own anything anymore." Ruby ran her gaze around the room, counting off the various objects needed to furnish the room. "Going to need to borrow a bullhead and go shopping. Today if we can. I'm not living without the cleaning powers of hydrogen peroxide any longer than needed."

Off in the bathroom, the sink was near overfilled with their clothes, the water tinged red from the caked blood and Grimm remains accrued from their previous engagements.

"Agreed." The three chimed in their usual manners.

"What do you have planned for the rest of today?" Yang tossed her own night shirt over onto her bed, mimicking Ruby. From her back she retrieved a roll of wide bandages, stretching the fabric to test its elasticity. "Any sparring or rigorous activities?"

"I'm sure Weiss has her own rigorous activities to put you through, but you have the rest of the day off." Ruby adjusted her backplate under her shirt, shifting it around until the molded foam slid into place. "That goes for the rest of you as well."

"Thanks Ruby." Yang smooshed her bare chest against Ruby's back, shifting the staggered plating as it moved to accommodate her hefty bosom. A possessive growl echoed from Blake as she watched another woman pressed her nude body against her wife.

Yang dislodged from her sister and walked over to Blake. With her height advantage, it was hilariously easy to reach up and rub one of her ears. The threatening growl shifted into a rumbling purr against Blake's will. Her team had learned to play her marvelously.

"Stop antagonising her and put on a shirt."

"Spoilsport." Before she had latched onto Ruby, she had pulled an evergreen tee from her dresser, flinging it over her shoulder. She pulled the shirt on, satisfying almost everyone.

"Which one?" In one hand, Weiss held a silver tee imprinted with her sigil in black. In the other, she held a copy of the first shirt in reversed colours.

Blake pulled on her only shirt, leaving the top buttons undone and folding the sleeves until they reached her elbows, keeping upper arms hidden. She pinned Ruby's silver crosses to the lapels of her shirt.

"Are we going for shock and awe or blending in?" Yang asked Ruby, who was immersed in her scroll.

"Hmm?" She looked away from her screen, glancing up at the situation. "Neither. We're going about a usual day. We eat lunch, meet the Headmaster, then dash into Vale to pick up supplies."

Ruby brushed off her leg pouch, attaching it to her thigh with some spare bandages. She filled it with her multitool, a copy of Of Love and War, and three rounds.

"Take the black shirt then. Sigil works better in silver." Weiss substituted her sleeping shirt for it. Her skin glowed against the dark material. "Big difference to your Beacon days."

"Really?" Weiss deadpanned. "Would have thought that was the hair."

"Definitely the scar." Yang pointed out. Weiss moved onto working on her leg pouch, filling it with a first edition Icha Icha, a few dust vials of every colour, and part of a first aid kit. "Forgot about that."

"Dumbass." She pinched Yang's cheeks. Yang swatted her hand away, rubbing the red spot.

Blake retrieved two flatter leg pouches from her pack, inspecting them for damage. One of the pouches she attuned solely for six throwing knives. The second held her trusty copy of Ninjas of Love. She donned then on her thighs over a layer of bandages, protecting her skin from the strap.

"Who's ready for lunch?" Ruby turned back to her team. She swiped her pointer finger along the collapsed handle, smirking as red flaked onto her the skin before licking it off. "I should really get this cleaned."

"That's unhygienic." Weiss slapped Ruby upside the head.

"My aura will burn it off." Ruby said through blood stained teeth, using her tongue to wipe them clean. She opened the zipped pack, reached in and removed a clean rag. She quickly wiped the exterior of her weapon, visually inspecting for more dirt and debris to clean away. "Clean enough."

Ruby walked into the bathroom and threw the rag into the sink, further tainting the water. Her teammates followed her example, cleaning their weapons and tossing the rags into the sink.

"It's not perfect but it'll have to do." Ruby attached the scythe to her back with a muffled click, relishing in the feel of her weapon. Against the dark maroon of her shirt, any blood remaining would be hidden in the tone of both weapon and it.

"Ruby. Don't forget this." Weiss had retrieved the silver moon emblem from the desk, wiping away the blood with another rag. "Ozpin ordered you to wear it."

Ruby said nothing but snatched the patch from Weiss' palm, inspecting the cursed object before attaching it to her upper arm, the hard emblem stretching the shirt's material.

Blake gave her a kiss on the cheek, brightening her mood.

"Ready to go then?" Ruby looked over to Weiss, who stood on a chair and fixed Yang's hair into a ponytail.

"I thought I told you you have the day off. You don't need the ponytail."

"But I like it when she's wearing sometime that's mine." Weiss inspecting her handiwork as she applied the finishing touch. Weiss' tiara sat at the bottleneck of the ponytail, holding it in place. "I wear her scarf even if I don't have loops on my shorts."

She indeed did not. The white shorts on Weiss' legs would have caused Glynda to short circuit before sending her spiraling into a rant about proper school attire. An orange scarf wrapped around her midsection, hanging limply on her pelvis. A simple knot secured Myrtenaster to her hip.

"Now are we ready?" Ruby tapped her fingers on her arm. Securing their weapons to their appropriate slots, Yang and Blake nodded.

Ruby launched through the window, latching onto the upper edge of the frame, rotating her body parallel to the horizon. Applying her Semblance along a perpendicular vector, she rocketed upward, leaving a trail of petals.

Her teammates followed along, Weiss spawning a glyph level with the ledge to create an artificial platform. Blake bounded from the glyph and flew upward, channeling Aura into her legs to make the jump.

The married pair of Weiss and Yang followed with Yang closing the window as much as she could. Weiss dissolved the glyph as Yang leapt towards the roof, joining her waiting team.

Ruby gave her sister a single nod as her feet hit the graveled roof. With another shower of rose petals, the team disappeared towards the canteen.

A cool breeze washed over them, granting them relief against the glaring sun. It had deemed them worthy of its heat for their actions yesterday.

At the speed they travelled, the sights around them blurred together. Thanks to Ruby's Semblance, they could move at these speeds and higher. The usual walk to the canteen from the dorms took five minutes, but they arrived in a record ten seconds.

They opened the doors to the blissfully chilled area, relishing the cooled air rushing over them, battling against the humidity. The canteen served as a refuge against the brutal midday heat. It was packed full of students, chatting away amiably and enjoying each other's company.

Though their attires and hairstyles had changed greatly, they still resembled their younger selves from four years ago. Ruby's growth spurt would be missed entirely except for those who knew the team.

They filed down the main corridor between the tables, passing familiar faces and teams on their way to the food line. Pangs of sorrow and guilt echoed through their hearts at the sight of these people. Most, if not all of them would be dead in three years time, if they were still in their timeline.

Their thoughts were wiped clean as they laid witness to the extravagant array of food waiting to be demolished. Nearly every possible food combination sat neatly lined up. Fast food, home foods, and foreign foods stretched down the heating racks.

"I can't remember the last time we had the choice of so many different foods." Yang grabbed a tray and pushed it along to her first entree, loading a plate of egg noodles and stir fried beef.

Ruby skipped Yang on the line and loaded her tray with baked chicken and pasta with alfredo sauce. Yang however moved along the line, already plating fried chicken as another entree. Blake moved to another heating bar, dressing a plate with salmon and pan seared string beans. Weiss filled a large bowl with various greens, different types of beans and a healthy dose of chicken strips, topping it all off with a dressing mixture of olive oil and lemon juice.

"Uh oh." Yang's frightened remark caught Weiss's attention, who followed her gaze and paled. Impressive for the girl with skin already the colour of fresh snow. "Ruby found the strawberries."

Blake came to their rescue, putting herself between Ruby and the delicious treats. She stared her down, conveying a message through a series of twitches and minor movements.

"What do you mean I can only have one bowl?" Ruby tried to sidestep the Faunus, but the blockade moved to follow her. She tried her other side, but was blocked just the same. "I don't stop you from eating all the fish you want, do I?"

Blake twitched an ear in a dismissive manner.

"I do not eat enough to drive myself into a coma." Ruby held her gaze, refusing to back down. Though the endless void of her right eye drew her into the abyss, Blake refused to break eye contact.

Another twitch, accompanied with a shift in weight to her heel.

"Fine. One bowl, but I get sugar and whipped cream on top." Blake smiled and moved aside, waving her through with a grandiose gesture. Ruby wasted no time, piling a bowl high with strawberries, topping it off with a sprinkle of sugar and a mountain of whipped cream.

Each of them had their own food quirks. Ruby absolutely cherished strawberries and demolished anyone who stood in her way. Usually.

Everyday, Weiss would attempt to have a bowl of ice cream. The deliciously cold treat satisfied her taste buds as no other did. From rocky road, to pistachio to all the fruits; she had tried them all. Her favorite, by far, was mint. She always got some weird looks for her preference.

She knew all too well what her 'preferences' cost her.

Blake, as usual, went out of her way to find dishes cooked with fish. Any fish would do, as long as it satisfied the innate craving of her animal heritage. He was unusually partial to tuna, and no matter what other food she tried, it remained her favourite.

Their last teammate's quirk wasn't too unusual, but it garnered similar looks of disgust and confusion as she'd drink it no matter the time of day and with any meal.

Milk.

Yang would drink the white liquid given any chance. Even though she plated egg noodles and beef on her tray, she filled a glass with milk and made her way away from the food line and to a table.

Most teams avoided the windowed seating areas in the sun, but this team took it as an opportunity to sit and talk away from the general populous. Bianca arrived to the table and took her place across her wife, her leader and other sister also sitting opposite each other.

"I see you've started your ice cream diet again." Yang chided her.

She received the middle finger in response.

"I haven't had any in nearly a year." She speared a piece of grilled chicken on her fork and twirled it between her fingers. "Can you fault me?"

"Not really." Yang crushed a few pine nuts and spread them among her dish. "As long as you share."

Weiss twisted her lips into a wry grin as she continued eating her salad.

Next to them, another conversation was taking place, yet neither of them could make heads or tails of it.

Eyelash bats, cheek bites, nose twitches, finger flicks, scratched ears, picked fingernails and foot nudges defined their dance. No words needed to be spoken between them to convey their thoughts.

The two rather liked the intimacy behind it and enjoyed aggravating those who couldn't mind their own business.

A few empty minutes passed as they ate their food, sitting comfortably placed between the sun's wrath and an overhead vent. A pleasing mix of cooled air and the sun's wrath glided on their skin, raising goosebumps in its wake.

As the team moved onto their desserts, a fair haired professor deemed it necessary to join them.

"Grab your dessert and let's go." Ruby ordered her team, blanketing them in her Semblance. "Head to Ozpin."

They disappeared in the wind, leaving their table covered in petals, and a disgruntled blonde, who turned and began her walk back to the tower the Headmaster had ejected her from earlier.

The team bound from the dining commons and angled their travel towards the monolith of a tower, startling the few students baking in the noon simmer.

Ruby's Semblance pierced the sharp wind threatening to slice their cheeks as they accelerated at breakneck pace. They barely touched the roofs in their paths before they left the physical ground and began traversing Weiss's glyphs.

Bounding from glyph to glyph, they rose higher into the air until they reached the balcony of Ozpin's office and alighted on the terrace.

Ruby knocked on the door, startling the Headmaster who swiveled in his chair and beckoned them in.

"Congratulations. You're the first people I've had to invite in through the balcony." He crossed his legs and held his drink in his hand. "They are several discoveries and discrepancies I must go over with you."

"I was expecting your underlings to be here waiting for us to pester us with questions." Ruby presented her team for inspection, standing at attention in front of his desk. "What do you want to know?"

"I sent them off for a more private meeting." He told them. "I need to know your aliases and preferred occupations." He rattled off his list.

"Summer, Kara, Bianca and Nova." Ruby pointed to each member of her team, starting at herself, then Blake, Weiss and lastly Yang. "We'll operate under the callsign Skyborne."

"Yes. I figured you'd like to use one of your alternate team aliases." Ozpin filled in their names into the needed forms. "I just wasn't sure which one."

"A necessity of our positions in the Hunters to maintain several identities to be thrown away at a moment's notice." Summer recited to him. "Unfortunately our faces and weapons were known throughout Remnant at one point and it was pointless to create any more."

"The curse of infamy. Every action we take is scrutinized by our enemies and even more so by our allies. Impossible to disappear from the public sphere after a while."

"Yet you managed quite well." Summer accused. "An identity long forgotten even before Mantle was reformed."

"And somehow you managed to learn of it." He stirred his mug idly, raising an eyebrow. "I believed to have destroyed all the records of my past."

"There exist records for those who know whom to ask."

"You speak of her." He stopped stirring his mug, his tone gaining ice. "I had thought I had washed myself clean of her."

"Hard to wash yourself of family you don't want."

"Deceptively. You speak with experience?"

"Everyone of us has family who either want us back or can't let go. Tai bawled his eyes out when Nova and I refused to go home. Qrow was much more understanding."

"You uncle raised you as Hunters. Not too surprised." He looked over to the next member of the team. "And you Kara? Your parents miss you terribly."

Kara flattened her ear against her head, the universally understood gesture of shame. Two dozen hand signs declared her statement in return.

"I see. Take your younger self with you." He looked to Bianca. "And you, the heiress of the Schnee Dust Corporation?"

"No longer." She barely bristled at the jibe. "Abandoned in favor of a more humble name. You know the answers to all these questions, sir. Why ask?"

"It's nice to converse with equals." He took a sip of his chocolate. "Your profiles are impeccably complete, filling in gaps I didn't even know existed. We might as well talk about some of what I've found."

"Glynda's time of the month?"

"Gods above, yes." He reclined in his seat and closed his eyes. "Rest of the month, she's a dear to work with, but those few days… Not even Qrow's wittiness can counteract her. I need someone sane to talk to."

"Just wait until we drag his sister in, kicking and screaming back to this office."

"Make sure she's unconscious and tied up when you do so. I'd rather not have to renovate the office again. She continues to refuse the summons I send for her. "

"Understood. As to our occupation, I assume you've already eliminated assigning us to a district?" Ozpin nodded with a smile. "Then I can assume you want to keep us at Beacon as either instructors or supplemental instructors."

"For obvious reasons, you and Kara can't work alone. I fear for the children's sanity if you were left alone in a lecture hall with them, but perhaps together you can teach a course on team communication. Bianca and Nova can teach the course on effective Semblance usage."

"Keep your friends close and enemies closer."

"A mistake I made with Raven. Consider the summer as probation. You listen to orders, act accordingly and perform your duties as Hunters and we'll see where your team goes."

"Do I have a right to question orders and bring my grievances to you?"

"You've learned from your own mistakes I see. Of course you may, provided they are actual grievances and not the ones Qrow likes to provide. A hangover is not an excuse."

Nova quietly cursed under her breath while her teammates chuckled at her expense.

"As of now, you have the summer free. You have permission to leave Beacon whenever you wish and I will personally review all mission requests you submit. Unfortunately, we have little to no funds to spare for your team expenses. You're on your own. You'll also be available for any missions I call you on without notice."

"Sir." Team SKBN replied in sync.

"Our next order of business would be your marriages." The elevator doors opened with a ding. None of the girls even turned their heads towards the noise. "I have all the relevant paperwork and it'll all be filed under your names, as soon as I get to creating them. I have a few concerns though."

"James, how do you feel about adopting me?" The General froze from his position near the elevator. The other two with him also froze, but not at the question, but at the four standing in front of them.

Qrow lost his breath. His lover stood in front of him. Thirteen years after her death, Summer looked as if time hadn't touched her. He'd drunken himself into many stupors while looking at pictures of her, memorizing the details of her face, hair and body.

This was not his Summer.

His Summer wasn't this tall. His Summer had two striking silver eyes. His Summer would have died rather than go an hour without her cloak. His Summer wielded dual kusarigamas.

This wasn't his Summer.

"Ruby?" He hesitantly pressed forward, almost afraid to chase away the image.

"Qrow." The bleak response stopped him in his tracks, less than half a meter from Summer. "It's been a while. You look less dead."

Kara loudly facepalmed. Therapy could only do so much.

Before Qrow could get a word in edgewise, Summer socked him in his kidneys, depriving his lungs of air. He collapsed onto the floor, dry heaving as his hands massaged the purpling bruise.

'What...was...that for?" Qrow managed out through large intakes of air.

"For not telling me you were my father until you were dying in my arms." Summer knelt down by him, tilted his head up and placed a kiss on his forehead. "That's for being the best uncle you could have been."

"So Ruby really wasn't lying when she said a future version of her team arrived at Beacon." Summer took his offered hand and hauled him back to standing. "This is going to get confusing with two of you here."

"Call me Summer." Qrow fixed her with a stare. "No. I'm not actually my mother. I'm just using her name to avoid confusion."

"Don't let me get drunk near you."

"Noted." Summer replied dryly.

"Can anyone help me with this...thing?" James called out to the room. The poor General was trapped in a body bind from Bianca. The girl had latched onto his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck and locking her legs around his back while she buried her face into his chest.

Glynda stood by his side with a bowl of ice cream as she watched him wiggle his trapped arms in a futile escape. Nova stood next to her, recording the moment with her scroll.

"Last time she hugged someone like that we needed a crowbar." Nova spoke, staring at the pair. "You can always try asking nicely."

"Weiss…" James grunted out, his crushed lung struggling to take in oxygen. "Let...go…please."

His plea snapped Bianca from her daydream, reminding her of her location. She reluctantly released her death grip from around James and lowered down to the floor. She smiled impishly up at her father figure as he took in large amounts of air.

"Sorry." She stepped away from him allowing him even more room to breath. "It's been awhile since I last saw you."

"You're never this touchy. Who are you, really?" James poked her cheek, feeling skin underneath his finger. "You're real?"

"Of course I'm real." Bianca spun around to her team. "I hugged people back in school, didn't I?"

"No."

"Nope." Yang popped the ending of the word.

Kara shook her head.

"I wasn't that bad, was I?"

"You sent Summer running back to me on her first day of classes, babbling about how a midget yelled at her for sneezing."

"Oh c'mon. That was a long time ago. I've changed."

"You still yell at people. Just not at us. You still have a propensity for white and you're still a midget. You haven't changed at all."

"You're kidding. Right?" James looked at Summer in amazement as he struggled to merge the image of the Weiss he knew to the woman standing in front of him. "She looks completely different."

"It's the scar, isn't it?" She lightly scratched the irritated skin on her cheek, shivering as she made contact with the exposed bone of her jaw. "Seriously, it's not as bad as it looks."

"The scar I can deal with. I mean, look at me." James lifted one of the vastly shortened strands of her hair. "You threw such a fit the last time I suggested you cut your hair."

"Well you were right. It's much easier to manage and doesn't get in the way of combat." There was another overarching reason, but she'd let her leader explain it.

"Plus it's much easier to sleep with." Nova added on. James gave her a weird look, taking notice she didn't have the short hair Bianca did, instead having it tied in a high horsetail, hanging down to her shoulders.

"But you don't have…" James glanced between the two, slowly making the connection. Qrow on the other hand had blinked to Ozpin's side, extending his hand for his winnings.

"What?" Ozpin finished his drink and stared at the hand, inwardly smirking as his face portrayed nothing but confusion.

"C'mon Oz. We had a deal."

"Your bet was that Weiss would end up with Yang. They haven't ended up together."

"Yang, are you dating Weiss?" Qrow looked over to her.

"No." Nova could barely keep her face from breaking out into a smile. They technically weren't.

"See-?" Her response threw Qrow completely. "But you just said you were sleeping with her."

"Yes." Another concise response. Kara and Bianca hid their smiles behind their hands. "Do you always date the people you sleep with?"

"So, friends with benefits?"

"No." Screwing with him was always fun.

"You're killing me here. Do any of you end up married in the future?"

"We all did." Summer told him, stepping to Kara and bringing her into her side by wrapping her arm around her waist.

"Pay up." Qrow turned back to Ozpin, expecting payment.

"Your other bet was that Ruby would end up with Blake."

"Huh?" He exaggeratedly gestured to the pair.

"I don't see Ruby hugging Blake. I see Summer hugging her wife, Kara."

"Oh no no no no no. You are not screwing me out of my bet money."

"I don't remember extradimensional travelers being subject to the rules of the bet Qrow. This dimension's Ruby and Yang aren't dating anyone. These four girls don't count for the bet."

"But...but…" Qrow sulked in his spot.

"We all know you'd use the money to fuel your alcohol addiction anyways." Qrow padded away from Ozpin's desk, a shadow of a storm following him. "Back to business then. Girls, if you'd please."

On his desktop lay open two marriage certificates. The one on the left listed the two participants as Summer Branwen and Kara Belladonna with the shared last name of Rose. The one of the right however listed as Nova Xiao-Long and simply Bianca.

"So James, you up for adopting me?" Bianca repeated her question to him.

James' first instinct was to question her as to why, but the silent plea in her eyes and his own past interactions with her and her family came to mind. He would help his daughter in all but name, granting her the gift of a father. He nodded his head.

She mouthed a thank you to him as she filled in the missing spot of her maiden name. Nova raised an eyebrow as Bianca deleted their shared last name of Xiao-Long and replaced it with Ironwood. It wouldn't be worth the effort to change her mind. She signed her name next to Bianca's, completing the certificate.

Summer and Kara quickly glanced over the certificate, finding everything in order and signed off on it, turning the screen back to face Ozpin.

"Unfortunately, I can only give you today off for your honeymoons. Tomorrow I'll need you four working on repairs."

"Understood. In completely unrelated news, Kara and I will be joining the night patrol." Summer turned and spoke to Qrow next. "I recommend you tell Team RWBY to invest in earplugs."

She let her statement hang in the air as Nova and Bianca shared a knowing look. Qrow had a shit-eating grin on, James looked queasy and Glynda's face erupted in a huge blush.

"Night patrol starts at 2100. You'll receive your zone at that time on your scrolls." Ozpin shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he hesitated to broach his next point. "Before I dismiss you, there's the issue of...therapy. I realize it is usually an intra-team issue, but as a condition to your employment, either Qrow, Glynda or I will be mediating your sessions."

"Therapy?" Qrow scoffed at the notion. "What could these girls have possibly gone through?"

"War." Summer spoke softly after which a tense silence fell upon them. A glimmer of despair appeared in her eye before draining into the abyss of her pupil.

"How bad?" Glynda, James and Qrow queried immediately.

Summer waited for Ozpin's confirmation. He gently nodded his head in confirmation.

"Three city states destroyed with the fourth being next. Two and and half billion dead. We lost Ozpin and Pyrrha during the Battle of Beacon. Qrow fell two years afterwards and Glynda fell a year after him. I don't even know when Tai died. Raven got herself killed on one of her misguided adventures." Summer took a breath before continuing. "Vacuo was destroyed first, three and a half years into the war. Atlas followed half a year after it, mere hours before Vale was annihilated. We barely managed to evacuate a thousand civilians before I gave the order to retreat to Mistral."

"You gave the order?" James asked her, taking notice of the silver emblem attached to her arm. Its pockmarked face echoed the visions and noises of battle as it innocently rested on its owner, harrowing her with memories.

"I became the High Commander of the Hunters after Qrow's death, who took the position after Ozpin. I held command of the Hunters for a year and a half, taking over after interim commander Bianca when I healed from my ordeal as a prisoner of the White Fang."

"I still don't know how you managed for three times my tenure. Six months taxed me to my limits. I still get nightmares from the amount of paperwork I was filling out."

"Weak." The three respective Commanders of the Hunters replied in sync, before chuckling at each other.

"Stop laughing. Did no one hear the little tidbit about Ruby being a prisoner of the White Fang?!" Qrow ranted. James cut off his laughter, but Ozpin and Summer took a while to calm down.

"Your point?" Summer's response caught him cold.

"My point? No one walks out of prison, especially one of theirs without some damage being done. How bad?"

"I'm fine." Summer attempted to abate his fears.

"She's not fine." Ozpin chimed in directly afterwards.

"Ozpin…" She trailed off. "He doesn't need to know."

"He's your father."

"Exactly. He'll treat me, and by extension, Ruby as children if he learns what was done to me. I can take care of myself and I don't want Ruby's potential smothered by an overprotective parent."

"I don't even have a protective side."

"Exactly." Summer repeated. Qrow paled her implication. If even he, the lax and more carefree of the two parent figures in Ruby's life, would suddenly start doting on her, then he could only imagine why Summer refused to tell him what she had had to go through. Still...he was her father, in a weird, interdimensional way.

"That bad, huh?"

"Bad wouldn't begin describing the sheer amount of physical and psychological torture she went through." Nova decided to add her two cents to the conversation, the older Hunters in the room flinching at her casual remark. Summer didn't react to the mention of her own torture. "Torture would be a kind word to describe what we do to terrorists, but even we have limits to what we do them."

"It wasn't that bad." Summer's monotone became increasingly clear. "The therapy helped and continues to help."

"Faking emotions isn't the same as feeling them sweetheart." Bianca patted her head condescendingly.

"Is there a reason my affairs are suddenly being broadcast to everyone or am I going to have to charge my own team with treason?"

"Which I will summarily ignore." Ozpin rebutted. Summer grumbled discontentedly.

"I spent nearly six months detained in a White Fang blacksite. Right before my internment, High Commander Qrow was defeated in battle, leaving me as the next Commander. Unfortunately, in the rout, I was captured, leaving Bianca in command. I was officially declared MIA after the first month. Unofficially, my team continued searching for me."

Summer gently scratched Kara under her chin, brushing along the path of her scar.

"Kara found the site by pure accident on one of her solo missions. I will not speak about my ordeal but let's just say having a pretty face was not a benefit. Ruby Branwen died in prison. What came out was a shell of her former self, incapable of emotion and bereft of morals. As a consequence of my capture, I stopped wearing my cloak and forced my team to tighten their clothing and shorten their hair."

A solemn silence resonated in the office as they tried to stomach her story.

"You were captured because of your cloak?" Qrow broke the silence. The horrors of humanity were nothing new to the spymaster, having seen his own share, but having his daughter suffer it was another story.

"I was ripped from the back of the bullhead by a Griffon right before the afterburners hit in. By the time Kara could turn the bullhead around, I was gone. Lesson learned: don't wear loose clothing. I'm surprised my mother survived as long as she did wearing that deathtrap."

"So that's why you cut your hair." James said to Bianca, understanding her reasoning.

"Even Yang shortened her hair. I never would have thought to see the day." Qrow commented on his niece's hair. "Everyone did."

"Has anyone else noticed Blake hasn't said a single word this entire meeting?" Kara's ears swiveled at Glynda's question, standing at attention. She signed out her name but Glynda only looked more confused. "I'm sorry. I don't know sign language. Why are you signing?"

"She's signing her name: 'Kara'." Summer responded. "This is going to make communication much harder with her then. No matter; she's rarely alone when not on missions. Any one of her teammates can translate for her."

Kara signed a few more times to Summer.

"She also says she'll use her scroll to communicate in case neither of her teammates are around."

"Why can't she speak?" Qrow asked Summer, bypassing asking Kara herself, who didn't look offended at all at his indirect question.

Summer didn't answer at first, letting Kara show of her spoil of war, the pink, scarred flesh standing out against her olive skin. Qrow and company winced at the location of it, knowing the vocal cords sat directly underneath the scar.

"You're lucky to be alive Kara. Few people survive having their neck cut open." Kara smiled kindly at Glynda, having heard the same from her team in the past.

"Thankfully the wound was shallow enough to avoid nicking any major arteries, allowing us to transport her to Monty while keeping her airways and lungs clear of blood. They were able to seal the wound, but the repair of such delicate tissue such as vocal cords was beyond them. Communicating was a hassle for a few weeks, but became a massive boon on missions."

Qrow nodded his head in agreement. While he was used to working his missions alone, being able to communicate silently was irreplaceable. Every Hunter eventually learned the basic hand signs, but being able to fully communicate was an ability only the best teams had.

"If we're done here, I'd like to retire to our room. Any further questions can be answered by the Headmaster or myself at a later time." Ozpin dismissed them with a quick shake of his head. "We're in the room next to Team RWBY, but if anyone disturbs us before sunrise tomorrow, you'll find our precisely why every member of my team gained the rank of S."

Team SKBN disappeared in a short gust of wind, leaving nothing behind but a few rose petals and an open door leading to the balcony. Ozpin banged his head lightly against his table before he stood from his chair and made his way to his bar, in desperate need of more cocoa to stave the coming headache.

Team SKBN could hear the exclamations of surprise and shock as they plummeted from the tower, leaving the poor Headmaster to field questions. Without needing a prompt, Bianca created a frictionless slide, gradually slowing their descent. It was a much preferred method compared to the deceleration of traveling through glyphs.

From the lowest point of the slide, they bound off towards their room, ignoring the looks of awe from the Hunters below. A few recognized the glyphs to belonging to the Schnee heiress, but paid no mind to the team, finding no difference between Team SKBN and Team RWBY as they moved at a ludicrous speed.

Within seconds the team arrived back to the roof of the dormitory, the aura of Summer's Semblance disappearing from around them. A rush of cool air blasted them team as they opened the door down to the hallway, alleviating the heat of the baking sun at its peak.

Summer felt an unrelated chill shoot up her spine as she stared down into the staircase.

"Let's take the window entrance." Summer shut the door, pivoted on her heel and brushed past her team, who exchanged looks of surprise but said nothing. Summer vaulted over the low wall separating the flat concrete and the roof tiles and ran along them until she reached the point above their window, her team following behind.

She fell to a floor in a slide, letting gravity pull her down towards the edge of the roof. Latching onto the edge, she let it stop her forward momentum, falling straight down onto the ledge under their window. Balancing precariously on a mere ten centimeters of stone, she opened it and climbed through.

Her team followed in a less risky style, landing on a glyph courtesy of Bianca, and crawled into their room.

"Why'd we take the window instead of taking the hallway?" Bianca asked her leader, as she made her way over to the desk with all of their belongings.

Summer held her hand up, silencing the room as she concentrated on the sound of movement from beyond their room.

"I'm avoiding our younger versions until later. No doubt Ozpin could manipulate them to meet us 'randomly' after I decided to leave him to answer questions." Summer opened her eyes, having heard all she needed through the walls. "They've left their rooms. Can you check for movement?"

Bianca pressed a hand against the floor and summoned a glyph a room over. If Summer was right then it would go unnoticed. She could feel the legs of beds, tables and chairs resting on her glyph, but nothing characteristic of a human. No walking or tapping registered on her senses.

"It's clear; unless you think they're all in their beds and expertly avoiding me." She stood from her crouch and returned to the desk, zeroing in on the stack of lien. "You got a shopping list for me?"

"Hamper, detergent, toiletries, weapons kit, coffeemaker, mugs, mini fridge, granola bars, hot chocolate packets, and I'll get you the authorization you need for a trauma kit from Monty." Summer recited the list to her before sending it to her. "Take 1k and try not to spend it all."

"No promises." Bianca pressed a quick kiss to Summer's cheek and shuffled over to Nova, taking her hand. "What are you two going to do?"

"Sleep."

"We woke up less than three hours ago." Nova looked between Kara and Summer, smirking knowingly. "Any plans on getting to sleep?"

"Just…leave…" They left without another word, Bianca blessedly locking the door behind her.

Kara tackled Summer onto their bed the second she heard the door lock, shirt already divested onto the floor. Summer wasn't one to complain.

Freezerburn

"We should've joined them." Bianca told her wife as she finished locking the door.

"Should've have said something before you locked the door then." Nova chuckled.

"Hn." Bianca grunted but turned away from their room, walking towards the hangars located on the outer ring of the campus

Passing by the common room, a few students blinked in confusion, having seen a similar pair passing by not even five minutes earlier.

They shuffled by a few Hunters carrying construction equipment towards parts of the destroyed dormitory. Fortunately for the forces, Beacon never remained fully occupied, preferring its Hunters spread out among the fringe districts. It was never staffed by more than 150 Hunters, most of them being students.

In the rare cases of events, such as whenever it came time for Vale to host the Vytal Festival, several hundreds of Hunters would be called from the less demanding districts. The unfortunate byproduct of hosting several thousand civilians in one confined area made this necessary; the mass amounts of human emotion drawing abnormal amounts of Grimm.

In the usual case, Atlas provided security on such events, be it on their lands or on any other city state's. Their droid army was able to provide immense amounts of personnel at no cost of life. Preferable to human soldiers, they were avoided by Grimm unless attacked.

One annoying flaw against them started the nightmare Team SKBN had to live through. Though cheap and mass produced, they held no loyalty to anyone unless programmed to do so. Unfortunately, only a few hundred lines dictated who they recognized as friendly and hostile, and it was a simple process of reversing the true to false and vice versa.

Kara would have to get on either encrypting those certain functions under enough fortified layers to exhaust the most determined hackers or Summer and Bianca would have to convince Atlas' council to abandon their automated personnel. The former done a lot more easier than the latter.

Passing by the outer limits of school, they came upon the long chain of hangars. Twelve hangars lay end to end, stretching an immense length. Another two larger hangers sat at the end of the line, solely used by the massive Atlesian airships.

Moving to the second hangar, Bianca swiped her scroll on the scanner. After a short delay, the scanner's light turned green and the door unlocked. Pushing through the door, they passed into the hangar, automated lights flicking on.

Two bullheads sat in the hangar side by side. The rest of the hangar was bare. They'd have to borrow the rest of the equipment from the school's shop.

"It feels weird flying anything not Serenity." Bianca said as she climbed up into the fuselage, Nova right behind her. Nova said nothing, running her hand along the metal of the ship's interior.

As they moved to enter the cockpit, a knock on the hangar doors caused them to freeze.

"You mind checking who that is while I warm her up?" Bianca slotted into the pilot's seat as she inserted her scroll into its dock. The ship's primary flight display turned on, followed by the rest of the console as hundreds of lights lit up. Another few knocks echoed out into hangar, causing Nova to sigh as she walked back out of the cockpit. "Thanks."

Nova bound from the ship and ran to the door, sliding to a stop in front of it. Opening the door, she expected to see either of her sisters, them being the only two who knew they'd be in the hangar.

"Hi." A familiar voice interrupted her train of thoughts. A younger version of Summer stood and fiddled with her cloak on the other side of the doorway, the rest of her team behind her.

Nova stared at each member of the team, struggling to figure out what to do. She expected Summer to have to deal with the first meeting of the two teams, not her.

"Well...this is a bit awkward." Nova leaned against the doorway, a cocky smile on her face as she looked down on her younger self. "C'mon mini-me and team, we're going shopping."

Nova turned and bolted back to the bullhead, forcing Team RWBY to give chase before they could even begin pestering her with questions. They broke into a run and chased Yang's older self, watching as she leapt up into the ship's bay. They noticed the the hangar's roof slowly open.

"Who was it?" Bianca, not looking away from the console asked as she felt Nova's presence back on the ship.

"Take a look." Bianca took off her headset and swiveled her seat around. Standing in the corridor between the cockpit and the fuselage was Nova, but behind her she could make out a few more people. "They're coming shopping with us."

Team RWBY stood shocked behind Nova, alternating looks between the two older Hunters. Bianca held her hand up, stopping the onslaught of questions at her appearance; her scar being the most prominent feature.

"How did you know we were here." Bianca directed her ire towards the team, crossing her legs together. Nova settled in on the co-pilot's seat.

"I got a message on my scroll telling us to go to Hangar Two if we wanted to meet with our older selves." Ruby took out her scroll from wherever she was keeping it and handed it over to her, the message already on screen.

The message wasn't signed and the number was blocked.

"I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill her." Bianca handed the scroll back to the scared Ruby. She continued to grumble under her breath.

"Who's she going to kill?" Weiss asked Nova.

"Summer." Nova took off her headset, barely able to hear through it. "The only person who could have sent that message."

"Mom?" Ruby perked up at her mention. An impossibly cute doe expression graced her face.

"Oh no sweetheart." Nova stood from her seat and hugged the little girl. Surprised at the sudden contact, she took a moment before hugging her back. "Summer is what we call our Ruby, to avoid getting the two of you mixed up."

"Oh. Okay." The dejected look on her face made Nova hug her even tighter. "So what do we call you and why are there only two of you here. I was told we'd get to meet everyone."

"You can call me Nova and Miss Temper over there Bianca. Ruby is Summer obviously and Blake is Kara." Team RWBY nodded along, filing away the pieces of information. "Summer sent that message to you knowing you'd jump at the chance to meet us. She's not here right now because she and Kara are sleeping so they decided to pawn you off to us."

"Why are they sleeping and why don't they want to meet us?" Blake asked.

"They're sleeping because they have night patrol, and it's not like they don't want to meet you…" Nova trailed off.

"They don't want to meet you." Bianca said with a straight face. "They sent you here so they didn't need to answer questions and got to rest, while tricking us to deal with you."

"But we'll get to see them later right?" Ruby wryly smiled, eager to see how she ends up in the future.

"You'll either see them when we get back from shopping or tomorrow." Bianca swiveled back in her seat, flicking a few switches on the console. A press on a lever rotated the engines to vertical, allowing them to leave the hangar. "Now hold on and get comfortable. We have a long ways to go to get to the nearest commercial district."

Bianca lifted the craft into a low hover, getting a feel for the craft under her fingertips. Pressing the throttle forward, the ship lifted from hangar, temporarily blinding the occupants at the sun's brightness.

Blinking away the sunspots, Nova gave the all clear to Bianca. She slowly rotated the engines to horizontal while throttling forward, letting the wings catch lift. The moment she felt the wings catch, she slammed the throttle forward, blasting them towards Vale.

Vale was an absolutely enormous city, if it could be called that. Stretching into the horizon, it occupied approximately 1.2 million square kilometers, including the small island of Patch. Beacon was an absolutely tiny speck on the map when compared the enormity of the city-state. Its forces weren't even a full percentage point of the total population, a paltry ratio of 9000 to 1.1 billion. Even with this massive amount of people, less than 50% of the land was occupied, whether from residential, commercial or industrial usage. The remainder of the land was used to supply the necessary food needed to feed such a population.

Watching out onto Vale sent Bianca and Nova to near bliss, their last view of the city being of hellfire and death. Nothing looked out of place, bar a few destroyed buildings from last night's failed invasion.

"Are you...crying?" Neither of them heard the partition open as Yang stepped into the cockpit, apparently the next person in line for questions.

"I guess I am." Nova wiped the tear away, staring at the droplet sitting on metal of her thumb.

"The views pretty great but why?" Yang leant on her counterpart's seat, staring at her prosthetic. A phantom pain lanced up her spine, reminding her she currently didn't possess one arm.

"Because the last time we saw Vale, it was on fire." Bianca moved one of the headset cups to behind her ear, trapping it with her lobe. Yang stilled, unable to imagine the immense city in flames.

"That bad, huh?"

"That's the usual reaction. Don't tell your team for now. I'll tell them myself." Nova twirled her seat around to face Yang. "We're telling you now because you're the most level headed of your team."

"Me?!" Yang's head snapped towards Nova. "My level head got me my arm chopped off, and apparently it got you your arm chopped off as well."

"Losing this arm was one of the best moments in my life." Yang observed her arm, smiling as hydraulics moved her fingers at her mental command, the artificial parts working in sync with the spliced nerves. "Do you know why?"

"Why?" Yang repeated the word, curious as to what good came out of her losing an arm. She rubbed the stump of her arm, spreading feeling back into the damaged skin.

"What were you doing when you lost your arm?" Bianca flipped around to face Yang, flicking a switch to activate the autopilot. They had another dozen or more minutes of flying over nothing but pastures and crops before they even spotted signs of civilization.

"I was trying to protect Blake." Yang fell against the closed cockpit door. "Fat load of good that did."

"And what did you learn?" Yang looked back over to Nova. This alternating speak was starting to grate on her.

"That Adam's sword is incredibly sharp and he wants to kill her."

"The real question now: would you do it again?" Bianca asked her.

"What? Protect her?" Yang stared at her in shock, appalled she'd even ask such a question. "Of course I would."

"Even if it meant losing another arm, a leg, or even your life?" Nova said without a trace of humor, plunging them into silence. "That was what losing an arm taught me; there is no cost large enough to be paid when saving a friend's life."

Yang had no response to her statement, staring endlessly at the metal arm attached to Nova. A stream of thoughts rattled around in her head, most dealing with her own self confidence.

"It shouldn't be something you think about Yang." Bianca nudged her with her foot, causing her to look up. "It's something you do in the moment. Did you even hesitate when moving to protect Blake from Adam?"

"No. I reacted to him standing over Blake with a sword, ready to execute her." Nova and Bianca smiled at her words.

"And that is one thing that cannot be taught, only experienced. Your team is still new. You just completed your first year together, but the willingness to protect your teammates will let you get far."

Yang's thoughts spiralled towards the main reason why she jumped into protect Blake. A sneaky suspicion crept up on the two senior Huntsman as a light blush appeared on Yang's face.

"Or maybe there was a larger reason to you acting to protect Blake?" Bianca immediately switched from a somber overtones to a teasing one. "A crush perhaps?"

"No-. Definite-ly not." Yang stuttered out as her face turned even more crimson at being confronted about it. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"What's so bad about a crush on Blake?" Nova questioned her.

"She's a girl." Yang looked at her in incredulity. "And so am I."

"So?" Bianca and Nova replied in sync. Yang looked between the two before realizing these two were from her future. For all she knew, she was married to Blake at that point.

"So, you're fine with Nova dating Kara in the future?" Yang directed this to Bianca, curious about how Weiss might feel about her starting a relationship with Blake. Ruby would of course love her unconditionally; she hoped.

"No." Bianca inspected her fingernails, avoiding Yang's hurt gaze. "It'd be very weird if Nova was dating Kara."

"Why? I mean, I get it might ruin team dynamic but why not?"

"It has nothing to do with team dynamics, if fact it even helps, in some cases to form strong bonds between teammates and given how teams are set up, they're mostly unavoidable. The real reason is that you get married to someone else."

"Who?" Yang could feel the setup incoming but couldn't care less.

"Me." Bianca leant back in her seat in satisfaction as Yang cycled between looks of horror and amazement.

"I get married to Weiss?" Yang, thankfully, kept her voice low enough for the passengers in the fuselage to not overhear. "But I don't even like Weiss like that."

She could feel she was the ass of a big joke when she realized they weren't listening to her and were instead laughing like lunatics released from an asylum.

"What's so funny?" Yang demanded an answer from the two.

"Your...expression...was great." Bianca choked out between fits of laughter. Nova continued to chortle away at Yang's embarrassment.

"So I don't get married to Weiss in the future?" Yang was entirely confused, unsure what to believe.

"No. no." Nova stopped from her fits to answer her. "I get married to Bianca."

"Then I'm still confused." Yang's brows furrowed.

"We're not from the future Yang." Bianca crossed her legs as she entered lecture mode. "We're from an entirely different dimension so you're not guaranteed to get married to Weiss."

"Oh." Yang brightened up at the prospect. "So there's still a chance I get with Blake?"

"You can do whatever you want to Yang. I'll even help you with your relationship with Blake if you want." Bianca consoled her.

"Thanks." Yang felt much more comfortable in their presence now. One of them was a different version of her, but they shared enough similarities as it was that they could pass as sisters, if not twins. "You're just some new big sisters I get now?"

"Pretty much." Nova spun her seat around to fill the lull in the conversation after her words. In the background, they passed a residential area, teeming with civilians, unaffected by the destruction wrought to parts of the city closer to Beacon.

"So what made you come in here initially?" Bianca quickly looked away to the console, checking if they were still on course. Finding nothing wrong, she looked back to Yang.

Yang snapped out from her thoughts, realizing she never got to the reason why she came into the cockpit.

"I wanted to ask about your metal arm."

"Envious?" Nova stood from her seat and moved to sit to Yang's left side, trusting Bianca to fly alone. "Have a look."

Nova rolled up her sleeve, exposing the meeting point between metal and flesh. Yang hesitated momentarily before Nova gave her the go ahead to touch and examine to her pleasure. She marveled at the feat of engineering crammed into the confines, touching the outer casing hiding the mechanics underneath.

"Did you make this?" Yang turned over Nova's hand, forearm up. With a little trouble, she unlatched the plate on that side, exposing the inner workings. Five thin graphene cables slid along tracks and pulleys as Nova controlled the five fingers in her hand.

"Yeah. I made the design and milled it out on a CNC, but I had to get it attached at Monty." Nova felt on odd pull on one of her nerves as Yang plucked one of the graphene cables and watched as it controlled the respective finger. "Stop that. It feels weird."

"Sorry." Yang stopped her inspection and replaced the forearm plate. "Can you help me with my arm?"

"You can have my design if you want, but that takes out all the fun out of creating yourself a replacement. I can just give you the core design and you can go about tricking it out however you want."

"What did you start off with?" Yang moved to inspect the tricep of the arm, looking to find where nerve met fiber optic.

"I got a basic model fitted for my arm but I created my own about two years later." Nova watching in amusement as Yang fruitlessly poked around the metal. "You're not going to find it. The nerve endings were routed through the bone marrow and metal bone replacement for protection. Hurts like a bitch getting the nerves connected, so they don't want anything happening to them."

"That's super cool. If I take your design, how soon do you think I can get an arm attached and functioning?"

"I built my arm in less than three days, and I was mostly just working with Bianca and Summer, but Monty should be able to get it built in half that time."

"I can send the schematics to Monty and see what they say about it." Bianca held out her hand for Nova's scroll, her own scroll locked in the dock to prevent usage during flight. Taking it from Nova, she remotely accessed Nova's files and downloaded the prints. Finding the number for Monty, she sent off the file with a short message and her own clearance codes. "Done."

"That was fast."

"That was just the request. They'll get back to us in a few hours depending on how busy they are and how long it takes to calculate building and assembly time." Bianca handed Nova's scroll back, who tucked it away into her leg pouch.

"Thanks. Again. Can I ask another question?" Bianca and Nova nodded. "How did you get that scar?"

As if answering her question, Bianca's facial scar pulsed angrily, a deep red contrasting greatly against her porcelain skin.

"Of course it comes to that." Bianca sighed moodily. "No one ever notices the hair or the change in clothes. It's always the scar."

"Sorry. I do like what you've done with the hair and I like the clothes. Much more risqué than your usual battle skirt."

"I even stopped wearing those damned heels." Bianca stuck her foot up in the air, adorned by one of her white sneakers. "Can't tell you how many times I twisted or sprained my ankle when I landed wrong."

"That's what I keep trying to tell Weiss and Blake but they just don't listen." Yang agreed.

"Weiss is still in her princess phase but that goes away in a while, and Blake's a cat." Nova pointed out.

A simultaneous cry of indignation from the aforementioned two echoed from behind the cockpit door. Standing from their positions up against the door, Yang opened the door, revealing a grouped up Team RWBY struggling to regain their balances after being pressed up on the door.

"You could have knocked." Bianca pointed out.

"We thought it would be rude to interrupt." Ruby pressed her pointer fingers together, ashamed they were caught.

"Eavesdropping is better apparently?" Nova leant against the corridor wall, Yang mimicking her.

"You've been in there with you for over ten minutes. We were wondering what you were doing." Blake told Yang, ignoring the accusation.

"Talking." Yang replied.

"About?" Weiss pressed.

"Well we got to talking about her prosthetic." Yang pointed to Nova. "And we were just getting into the story behind Bianca's scar."

With nothing but an intense look, Nova asked Bianca to switch position. Nova took the pilot's seat while Bianca hopped into the other.

"I was wondering about it too." Weiss stared at the wound, noting it went down to the bone of her jaw. "It's pretty deep."

"Yeah." Team RWBY funneled into the cockpit, two members sitting behind Bianca and two sitting in the corridor, leaning on opposite walls. Bianca rubbed the point when bone flowed into flesh. "I had to get my cheek sewn shut so I could eat."

"How'd you get it?"

"I underestimated the same man who crippled Yang yesterday." Bianca told them.

"Adam." Blake's breath hitched at the thought of him, pain shooting from the wound on her abdomen. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault Blake." Bianca waved her off. "I won't fault the student for the crimes of the master."

"I left the Fang." Blake shook her head. "He's taking his revenge out on the people closest to me."

"It's his fault for reacting so violently because he couldn't deal with his student not becoming a terrorist with him."

"Is that his label now? Terrorist?" This was never suppose to happen. They were suppose to change to world, not through acts of terror and war, but through protest and rallies.

"That's the usual protocol when you attack a military installation." Bianca perked up at the sound of beeping coming from the console. Standing from her seat, she looked out the see the beginnings of the commercial district pass them. "We're here."

Nova turned off the autopilot as they entered the area, descending rapidly from the clouds, slowing from her cruising speed. While there were a few blips on the radar, their path ahead was clear.

Vale-Mart sat ahead of them, the striking blue panels giving it away. Its rooftop landing pads regularly serviced Hunters and other military personnel when visiting.

When the craft was above the megastore, Nova spun the engines to face nearly backwards, using some of the propulsion to stay afloat. She throttled back up, slowing the ship to a standstill. There were a dozen or so landing spots, but she angled for the closest to the elevators.

Lowering the landing gear scant meters before touchdown, Nova settled on the non-skid rubber surface, jets of air billowing out from the side as the engines spun down.

"Let's go shopping then." Nova stood from her seat and disengaged Bianca's scroll from the dock, handing it back to its owner. The wheels and engines locked automatically, not detecting the presence of a pilot onboard.

The members of Team RWBY worked out the various kinks in their bodies from having been seated for so long, but Nova and Bianca looked perfectly fine after being in similar positions.

"What are you here for?" Ruby slid open the side door, letting the group out.

"Literally everything." Nova and Bianca walked over to the nearest edge of the roof, Team RWBY following them. "Neither of us have anything except for a week's worth of clothes and our weapons."

Weiss took notice of the weapon strapped to Bianca's side by an orange sash. It was an exact copy of her own, down to silver cradle the cylinder rested in.

"You're carrying your weapon." Weiss pointed out. "You can't take it into a public place."

"Watch me." Bianca backflipped off the edge, Nova following her with her own front flip. Two gleaming gauntlets sat on her wrist, unnoticed due to the regular presence of it on Yang.

The two landed within seconds of each other, muscles rippling as they absorbed the impact of the fall, cushioned further by the application of Aura to their legs.

"You guys coming down or what?" Nova called up to them.

They spared no moment as they leapt off the roof, eager to join them in their shopping spree.


	5. Five - No One

Chapter Five

* * *

 **No One**

* * *

 _Vale Commercial District - 38 Charlie_

"So how do you plan on getting in with that?" Weiss asked Bianca as they neared the entrance of Vale-Mart.

"Easily." Bianca passed through the automatic doors, nodding to the security guard at his post as she passed him. He simply nodded back, returning the nonverbal hello, nonplussed to seeing a woman carrying a rapier and another wielding shotgun gauntlets walking into the store.

"He just let you walk in?" Ruby questioned them as they caught up, dumbfounded to the casual disregard to policy.

"Of course. We are Hunters after all." Nova pushed forward a cart and beelined towards the nearest item on their list.

Team RWBY looked at her blankly.

"Which means you're allowed to carry your weapons." Bianca grabbed a large box of granola bars and hot chocolate, placing them into the cart. "I assume you didn't know that."

"No. Everyone at Beacon keeps their weapons in their lockers." Yang replied as they moved into another aisle, the appliances.

"Well now you know." Nova bound up a few glyphs Bianca spawned and grabbed a mini-fridge from the upper racks of the shelves, bypassing the need to go and find an attendant to do it for them. Lifting it over her shoulder and holding it still with one arm, she dropped onto a glyph spawned on the floor, preventing the fall from cracking the floor.

"You should keep your weapons stored in your rooms and never leave without them." Bianca strolled a bit further from cart and grabbed a higher end coffee model, complete with a set of four mugs.

"I just noticed something." Weiss said as Bianca shifted around the boxes in the cart to make sure the mini-fridge and coffeemaker would fit. "You're short."

"You're shorter." Bianca retorted as she placed the coffeemaker into the cart. She stepped in front of Weiss, eyes perfectly leveled with her.

"No I'm not."

"You're wearing heels." Bianca pointed out. "I'm not."

Weiss looked down at their feet. She was, as usual, wearing her white wedges. Bianca, however, was wearing her plain white sneakers. Bianca was indeed taller, the wedges adding a good four centimeters to her height.

"Just barely." Weiss conceded, dismayed she'd never be any taller than Bianca. "At least Ruby's still short."

"Nah. You're still the smallest." Nova pulled the cart forward into the next aisle. "Summer and Kara are about even in height so Ruby here will eventually hit her growth spurt."

It was easy to forget that Ruby was two years younger than the rest of them, her being the leader and all. Ruby beamed up at Nova, happy she'd eventually grow to be taller.

"Keep in mind that Kara doesn't grow past a centimetre or two past Blake's current height, and that's without her heels." Yang placed a large tub of powdered detergent in and then placed a bottle of hydrogen peroxide next to it.

"What can you tell us about them?" Blake asked, interested in her future.

"Kara is very… quiet." That really was Kara's most defining trait. Even before her incident she preferred the solitude of her books or the presence of Summer at her side.

"Tell us something we don't know." Yang prodded her. Even knowing Kara wasn't the future version of Blake, she still wanted information on her.

"She likes ear rubs, reading her smut, and carries enough knives to outfit a platoon." Nova winked at Yang.

Ruby, Weiss and Yang simultaneously turned towards Blake as she desperately fought to keep a blush from her face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Blake protested, but everyone around her could see pink creeping up on her face.

"She keeps a copy of _Ninjas of Love_ in her back pocket." Yang added, privy to Blake's tendency to never leave their room without a book from her current favourite series.

"How did you-?" Blake placed a protective hand on her backside, right over her book.

"I got curious one day about the books you read. You never leave them out in the open and you're quick to cover the title if someone gets too close. I simply checked out the book while you were out on one of your 'recon' missions."

"The books are okay. The characters could use a bit more development, but the plot is so terrible and obvious." Bianca dragged three massive bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash into the cart. "It has nothing compared to my favourite books."

"What are you talking about. It's an amazing love story between two ninjas during a time of war." Blake retorted, defending her series.

"I know. Kara and Summer both like it but it's nothing compared to my favourites." Bianca slipped out the copy of _Icha Icha_ and held it in front of her. Blake looked at the book in disgust.

"My book may have elements of smut in it, but _that_ book is all smut." Blake pointed out. "How can you even stomach that?"

"So you admit you read porn?" Weiss accused, before quickly rounding onto Bianca. "And you! You're suppose to be me. How dare you read porn!"

"How dare you criticise me?" Bianca retorted straight back. Nova walked behind the team and handed her own copy to Ruby. The ever curious girl was happy to find out what the fuss was about as she turned to the first page, Yang looking over her shoulder. "This is my hobby, so fuck you."

"Hobby?" Weiss really had no answer to Bianca flipping her off, except to question her. "What's so good about reading porn?"

"It gives her ideas to use in bed." Nova said from Ruby's shoulder as Yang looked over the other. Ruby turned towards the next page, enraptured by the words strung together on the page. At her words however, everyone turned towards her, connecting the dots. Nova impishly smiled in return.

"Yes Nova, please tell the impressionable young Hunters about our relationship." They could see the sarcasm dripping from Bianca's mouth. Nova stopped her reading and pressed a kiss to Bianca's temple. Bianca sighed irritably but Nova knew she loved it.

"They would have found out eventually." Bianca pondered on the probability of them keeping it a secret but conceded it would be near improbable.

"A little tact next time." Weiss replied as Nova hugged her from behind and rested her chin on her head. Sans Yang, who was grinning like a madman, Weiss and Blake looked at them in shock and Ruby had her starry eyes up in full effect.

"You...and you?" Weiss looked at the couple before looking at Yang, who winked at her cheekily.

"We'd make a great couple, don't you think?" Yang slung her good arm around Weiss, trapping the girl.

"Get off me." Weiss slugged her, throwing off the offending appendage.

"But princess..." Yang did her best to not break out into laughter as she pouted at Weiss. Ruby ignored the performance and continued reading, delving deeper into the world of _Icha Icha_. "Look how good we look together."

Bianca and Nova had terrifyingly wide grins on as Weiss looked over them again.

"Why are you grinning at me like that?" Weiss couldn't shake the feeling something was off.

That was all it took as the three broke facade and burst into fits of giggles.

"You two were right. My face must have been something to watch." Yang leant on the shopping cart for support. "Don't worry Weiss. I'm not attracted to you. There's someone else."

Yang quickly looked over at Blake, hoping she wouldn't spot the gaze. Unfortunately for her, she had made herself the center of attention and Blake returned the gaze. Yang flushed at her blunder and Blake flushed at having her feelings confirmed but both were incredibly happy they were correct about the other.

Ruby was thankfully engrossed in her new book and Weiss was too shocked to notice, but Bianca and Nova noticed and silently moved their plans for them ahead.

"How are you laughing at this?" Weiss demanded of Yang. "We somehow end up together in the future."

"Because they're not from our future." Yang placated. Neither of them noticed as they continued to move through the store, dropping things into the cart. Ruby and Blake trailed behind them, completely engrossed in their respective books. They got a few weird looks. "Different dimension entirely."

"Oh. At least I was right in my multiverse theory." Weiss let up off of her ire for Yang. "So how'd you do it?"

"The liberal use of Nova's, Summer's and my own Semblance." Bianca answered. Of course there was their sheer determination and hope to never see the war happen, but that was more of a footnote. And the dimensional fracture of Salem tearing the Primordials in. Another smaller footnote.

"Not my own Semblance?" Blake looked up from her book, feeling a little hurt she didn't help with the dimensional jump.

"Your Semblance wasn't needed for it." Nova explained. "Though your ability to avoid death by allowing your clones to take hits is very useful in battle, it had no practical effects when applied to time and spacial travel."

"Summer's Semblance was used to achieve the near speed of light needed to break through the dimensional barriers, Nova was used to power Summer's Semblance and my own. My glyph was used to anchor our bodies to our universe and keep us safe during the jump." Bianca continued. "I'm not so sure we could attempt to do it again without scattering ourselves across the multiverses."

"That's SO COOL!" Ruby interrupted her reading to exclaim her delight at figuring something out about Summer. "Can I really run that fast?"

"No. Your body can't handle that level of acceleration and velocity, but you can still easily outpace anyone." Ruby slightly deflated, but was happy nonetheless. She'd eventually figure out how powerful her Semblance really was with nothing more than a push in the right direction. A large push if she was correct in Summer's plans. "Enjoying the book?"

"It's surprisingly not bad." Ruby commented causing Blake to look scandalised. "I'm only a few pages in though."

"Just wait until you get to the good parts." Nova snickered, completely fine with giving a sixteen year old what amounted to porn. She was technically not a minor, but pissing off the prudish was always fun, especially Jaune.

"Ruby!" Blake nabbed the girl's attention. "Stop reading that filth."

Blake snatched the orange book from her hands and tossed it back to Nova, who looked disappointed Ruby hadn't gotten to the corrupting parts of the book. She'd have to corrupt her later, but knowing Kara, she'd have a nice competition for it.

"I'll get you a copy later Rubes." Nova moved their cart toward the checkout, completed with their regular purchases. "We can stop by the bookstore next."

"Books weren't on the list of items to buy." Bianca rebutted as she placed their items onto the conveyor belt. The nice old lady smiled at them as she began her job, scanning each item for the machine to tally.

"We'll get her something from the locker." Nova brushed aside the threat of Summer. "She could use a whole dozen or more rounds for Crescent Rose. You know she's pretty stingy with them as it is."

"True." Bianca conceded.

"Is Crescent Rose different from my own?" Ruby asked, ever curious about her weapon. '

"You could say that." Bianca responded cryptically. "You'll figure out at the locker."

Ruby held her tongue. The locker was close by, only a few dozen meters away, hidden behind grated steel and defended by automated stun guns. Fortunately, the law barred the installation of automated lethal systems, citing the inability of such systems to distinguish between friendly and hostile.

At one point, the Hunters would have championed the need for decisive defenses, but the destructive infection of the droids had taught them otherwise. Kara was still pissed and had a few grey strands from the months of working to rip apart the code keeping the droids operational.

The two stun guns followed their path as they approached the locker, ready to fire without a moment's hesitation at the slightest indication of a threat. The system wasn't perfect, evidenced by the rare occasion where it deemed a threat when there wasn't, but it reacted many times quicker than any Hunter could react.

An older Hunter greeted them warmly but the stun guns never stopped following them.

"Two dozen 30 millimeter rounds, unlinked please." Nova requested of him.

"Clearance?" Those were shells reserved for specially modified bullheads called Avengers. Less than a dozen were ever created and they were restricted to specially trained pilots. Coincidentally, 38C was where these bullheads were manufactured.

"No." Bianca took out her scroll, pulled up her profile and presented it to the man. He blinked confusedly at her until his eyes ran across the profile and spotted a small piece of information. "You will keep quiet about my business here I trust?"

"Of course ma'am." He politely bowed his head and disappeared into the back room in search of their request. He returned after a short delay and placed a heavy ammunition box on the counter.

"This, little Ruby, is what Crescent Rose was modified to fire." Nova unlatched the box to inspect the rounds and removed one to give to Ruby.

She stared wide-eyed at the immense round, her hands barely able to fit around the circumference.

"This thing is massive. It could take a Nevermore's head off." Ruby examined the cartridge, measuring it up to her forearm.

Nova thought more along the lines it could obliterate a man's chest cavity or punch of hole through Atlesian steel. It had downed more aircraft and warships than Grimm since its modification.

"Yeah." Nova ruffled Ruby's hair. "It's not really a rifle anymore if it fire those things is it?"

"More like artillery." She agreed, fixing her hair back into place. "But why?"

"Those tiny things your Crescent Rose fires are ineffectual against larger and more armoured Grimm." Nova explained as Bianca paid for her purchase. "Neither Myrtenaster nor Gambol Shroud nor Ember Celica can engage these Grimm at long ranges and Summer took it upon herself to modify Crescent Rose to fulfill the role."

Ruby nodded along, following the logic. Myrtenaster couldn't be modified to fire bullets as it only held dust cartridges for Weiss' glyphs. Gambol Shroud couldn't be modified to do it either without sacrificing its narrow profile and ability to screw on a suppressor and Ember Celica only fired shotguns, limiting it to short range.

Crescent Rose was the best option for long range engagements. Its barrel could be hidden within the handle and could further be hidden by the mechashift.

"Do you girls needs to restock?" Bianca asked Team RWBY as she completed her transaction.

"A box of 9 mm please."

"A box of 7.62 mm please."

"A box of bird shot and slug, both 12 gauge please."

Blake, Ruby and Weiss requested their respective ammunition. Weiss felt a little left out but her weapon didn't use ammunition. It used refillable dust cartridges and she had enough Dust back in their room to do so.

The clerk removed the four boxes and placed them on the counter. Ruby paid for all of them, placing them on the team's budget.

Grabbing their ammunition, they retreated back to their filled cart and moved towards the elevators, ready to return home with their spoils. A convenient elevator car sat ready and willing to take them to the roof.

A short ride later and they stepped onto the roof, dragging their spoils to their ship.

"To the bookstore now?" Ruby asked as they finished packing their cargo into the fuselage. Though the bullheads usually carried people, if had several cargo nets in storage to lash down loose items.

"Really want to continue reading that book don't you?" Nova teased as she boarded the ship. Ruby nodded eagerly. She didn't really see what Blake found wrong with them. "Hop in. We're going for a ride."

Team RWBY jumped in and spread along the cargo netting. Nova took her place among them as Bianca hopped into the cockpit to start off their journey.

"You can continue asking me all the questions you want. We have thirty minutes until we get to the bookstore." Nova settled into the netting, moving aside a few items to make room.

"Thirty minutes is all the way back to Beacon." Blake noticed, her dutifully trained body keeping the time for her.

"Observant." Nova remarked. "That particular district contains your, and coincidentally, our favourite bookstore."

"Tukson's?" Blake's ears cutely flicked within the confines of her bow, rubbing against the delicate material. They all felt as Bianca lifted the craft into the air and angled back towards Beacon.

"I'd wish you'd stop wearing your bow Blake." Nova took notice of her ear's struggle. "You look much better without it."

"I have worked long to keep my nature hidden." Blake retorted, frowning at the mention of revealing her identity.

"Kara doesn't care." Nova replied flippantly. "She says it hurt her ears immensely and chaffs twice as much."

"They hurt?" Ruby, Weiss and Yang turned towards the Faunus.

"I got used to it." Blake replied, ears twitching again.

"Blake." Weiss got her attention. "Take it off. Please."

"Once people make the connection between you and Kara, your secret is blown anyways." Nova sagely added.

"Blake." A hand on her cheek startled her out of her thoughts. Yang had crept up while she was in her stupor and sat down next to her. "Please."

The hand migrated north, fearing it would be stopped, but no resistance came. It briefly played with her luscious black strands before tugging at the fabric obscuring her heritage. The loose end of the bow gave way at the hand's insistence, revealing a pair of midnight feline ears. They sprung loose from their confines, happy to be free.

"That's much better, isn't it?" Nova smiled genially. Blake massaged her ears, rubbing feeling back into them. She couldn't help but feel vastly exposed, even in the confines of the bullhead, even among those who already knew her secret. She wryly smiled back at Nova.

"Feels like a cool breeze." Blake said. Ruby was visibly trembling as Nova held the girl back from jumping the Faunus and molesting her ears. "Is she...shaking?"

"Your ears are pretty cute." Nova conceded. Weiss and Yang nodded in agreement as Nova tightened her grip on their leader.

"These ears are the reason my kind are discriminated against." Blake frowned. "All people see when they look at me is 'exotic'. I'm not human to them."

"Yet when Ozpin and his Hunters look at you, they see nothing but a Hunter, regardless of those pretty ears or slitted pupils you have." Nova settled into the cargo netting, searching for a more comfortable position. "Besides, you have no kind."

"What do you mean I have no 'kind'?" Blake's face furrowed in confusion. "I am a Faunus, through and through. We fought for our freedom."

"And therein lies the entire problem." Nova leant forward and stared at her golden eyes. "Faunus are treated as they are because they inherently believe they are different, when you are nothing more than humans with a few extra features."

"Tell that to Cardin and his band of bullies."

"Summer will beat the ever living shit out of Cardin if he continues his petty discrimination against the Faunus." Nova retorted. "He'll learn to respect his comrades or she'll boot him off the cliffs and into the lake below."

"No." Her response startled the team, but Nova didn't look too rattled. "I don't want anyone fighting my battles."

"It wouldn't be much of a battle." Bianca said from the corridor to the cockpit. "Summer would look at him wrong and she'd win."

"You haven't told us much about Summer." Ruby noticed, wiggling against the arm pinning her down from feeling up Blake's ears. "Tell us about her."

"We haven't told you much about Kara either." Bianca said. "Summer is a hard person to describe."

"More like impossible." Nova concurred. "Summer is many things. She's a walking contradiction."

"But she's still Ruby, right?" Weiss prodded.

"Describe Ruby for me." Bianca responded.

"Idealistic, awkward, impulsive, eager, lazy, quick, reckless, brave, kind." Blake, Weiss and Yang took turns listing about Ruby's most prominent characteristics as the girl turned redder with each word. Once out of steam, they looked back towards Bianca.

"Summer is all and none of these." Nova responded to them. "Summer isn't the Ruby you know. She's changed. She's grown up."

"But she's still Ruby, right?" Weiss asked.

"You'll meet her later on today or tomorrow." Nova repeated. "Describing someone you've known without using petty words is difficult."

"Nothing at all?" Ruby continued asking.

"It's an honour to fight by her side during battle." Bianca added. "That's the only statement I can truly make about Summer."

"That's it?" Yang pressed. "That's she's a great Hunter?"

"It's not our place to speak about our leader." Nova replied. "She's an amazing Hunter, but personality speaking, you'll have to see for yourself."

There was no further questioning. They understood they'd get no further with their line of questioning.

"How good of a Hunter is she?" Ruby decided to question again.

"Curious little Rose?" Ruby snuggled into Nova's side. It was hard not to feel comfortable in her presence when she called her with the same nickname as her mother did. It also didn't hurt that she was snuggling into her right side. "Summer is the strongest Hunter I've ever seen."

"Really?" Ruby looked up at Nova while reaching towards the arm wrapped around her. "How strong?"

"Strong enough to fight Headmaster Ozpin to a standstill." That was if he fought fair. Not even Nova would survive the Headmaster's full power. She was relatively sure that if they fought the Headmaster as a team, they might be able to force him down, but even those were slim chances.

"But Headmaster Ozpin is the strongest Hunter alive." Ruby said. Bianca and Nova nodded in reply. "Can I get that strong?"

"We're taking over your training, so we'll do our damn best." Bianca said. "Ozpin has stationed us as instructors at Beacon, but until the term begins, you're all our apprentices."

"Yay!" Ruby hugged the metal arm in glee. "Thank you!"

"You won't be thanking us tomorrow." Nova chuckled dryly. Blake flinched at her implications. Adam said the same when he'd first taken her as an apprentice. She loathed her teacher for months after he started training her.

"Now I'd like my arm back please." Covert may have been Summer and Kara's schtick, but watching Ruby manipulate Nova to inspect her arm was too cute. Ruby released her death grip on the arm embarrassedly. "Yang asked for an exact copy of my arm so you'll be able to play with it all you wish."

"Oh yeah sure. Pawn her off to me." Yang crawled away from her sister, avoiding her pleading looks. "Fine. You can paint it gold."

"Really? Gold?" Nova looked at Yang weirdly.

"There's something severely wrong with your dimension if you don't like gold." Yang quipped in return.

"It's much too opulent of a colour." Bianca added. "White is much more neutral and pleasing."

Everyone bar Weiss snorted at the notion. They each had their preferred colours. Not even war could mute Nova's like of the colours gold and yellow, but it sure did teach her it wasn't a colour to wear outside of leisure.

"Alright, alright." Nova broke them out of their narcissism. "We still have a few minutes before we land. I believe Nova had asked Bianca about her hair before you interrupted us."

"Why?" Weiss tugged at her hair protectively, draping its considerable length over her shoulder. "Why'd you cut it?"

"Maintenance was too much of hassle." Bianca played with the shortened strands, presenting them to Weiss. "Much easier to fight with too. Hair doesn't fly into my face when I turn rapidly and doesn't become an absolute pain to deal with when it rains."

"I've never actually thought about it that way. Does it really get in the way that much?"

"I would recommend shortening it drastically." Nova replied, grabbing at her own hair. "Even I shortened my hair. Not as much as Kara or Bianca, but short enough to not get in the way. I just keep mine in a ponytail for combat."

"I cut my hair too?" Blake asked. "How short?"

"Summer, Kara and I cut our hairs to similar lengths." Bianca responded. "Not even a direct order from Summer could convince Nova to shorten it any further."

"Did you willingly cut your hair or did you suddenly wake up with Summer standing above you with scissors?" Yang jokingly asked.

"I'd have killed her before she could blink. You know how we get with our hair." Nova said. "There was copious amounts of bribery involved."

Yang nodded in self satisfaction, happy Nova didn't give up too easily without a fight.

"How did you and Bianca end up together?" Yang turned the conversation on its head.

"There's this thing I do with my tongue." Nova replied lewdly, staring at Weiss. She flinched away from her piercing gaze, blushing intensely.

"Can you teach me this technique?" Yang replied, keeping up with the pace of the conversation.

"Yang!" Weiss sputtered out, fighting to keep some measure of composure. Nova shuffled to sit on Yang's other side, depriving Ruby of being sandwiched between the two.

"It's not something that can be taught." Nova whispered to Yang, barely audible in the fuselage. Bianca could see the hairs on Blake's neck and ears rise in envy. "It's something I have to show you."

"And how are you planning on showing me?" Yang would not back down from this challenge, her pride ruthlessly crushing her instinct to flee. She turned her head to face her, violet meeting violet in a clash of colour, perfectly blending in the middle. She could feel Nova's breath on her lips, centimeters away from pushing her over the edge of decency.

Bianca fought to keep from laughing and ruining the tension around them. She placed a soothing hand on Blake's shoulder, dispelling any actions she had planned. Weiss and Ruby were watching the two in rapt confusion, faces unable to decide between disgust, wanting to interfere, and wonder of what would happen next.

"Come by our room tonight and _we'll_ show you." Nova whispered into Yang's ear, nibbling it lightly as she stood and returned back to cockpit, leaving a turned on teenager and her three teammates in the fuselage.

"If you want Yang to be yours, then I suggest you move before tonight." Bianca whispered into Blake's ear, inaudible to anyone except her, before joining her wife in the cockpit, leaving the team of four to stew in their thoughts. She closed the partition with a resounding clang.

"Did that really just happen?" Blake asked.

"Did I really just get an invitation to a threesome?" Yang replied, her smile infuriating Blake. "I guess I did."

"You're not going to accept, will you?" Blake hesitantly pried.

"Maybe you should join me?" Yang crawled over to her, her sexiness greatly diminished by her use of only one arm. "We could make it a four-"

The end of her sentence was lost as the ship hit a patch of turbulence as it landed, sending its occupants sprawling across the floor. Yang, only propped on one hand, lost her stance and was sent onto her back.

"Okay. So maybe it's not a good idea for me to move around." Yang groaned out. "Gimme a hand?"

"Asking for my help? With puns?" Blake grabbed her hand and hoisted her to her feet. She noticed Yang lightly holding something black in her hand. "Holding onto my bow for me?"

Yang didn't even realized she was still holding it, clutching at the black fabric.

"Keep it." Blake took the ribbon and tied it around Yang's wrist, looping it several times and securing it in place. "It's yours now."

Yang smiled back at Blake. Throughout it all, either neither realized Blake was still holding Yang's hand or they just both didn't want to let go.

The sound of a shutter startled them from their moment, the sound egregiously loud, almost mocking in volume.

"Thanks for the blackmail." Bianca pocketed her scroll before swinging herself out the breach, landing on the docks. "You guys coming?"

Ruby and Weiss jumped after Bianca, but not before sending their other teammates curious looks.

"Summer wears Kara's ribbon on her neck." Nova told them as they hopped out of the craft. Bianca and her entourage were already several meters ahead and didn't look too concerned with leaving them behind. "But hey, to each her own."

"Why does she wear it?" Blake asked as Nova locked up the ship. "I gave mine to Yang because she's my partner."

"She gave it to her." Nova replied. "Probably for the same reason you gave it to Yang."

"Because she's my partner?" Blake responded without hesitation.

"Yeah. Sure. That's the reason." Nova scoffed as they passed the dock's gates. "It has nothing to do with your crush on her at all."

Blake stumbled on the flat sidewalk, but was able to grab onto Nova on her way down, preventing a faceplant onto the sidewalk.

"Did I say something untrue?" Nova helped the girl to her feet. Both Nova and Yang had massive grins on their faces.

"I'm starting to think hanging out with two Yangs isn't good for my health." Blake lamely replied. "And no, you didn't"

Blake slipped her hand into Yang's and pulled her forward, leaving Nova behind to chase after their teammates. Nova briefly watched them before jogging after them, catching up to them as they disappeared into the bookstore.

She snagged the door as it closed and entered the cool bookstore. Blake had led Yang over to a small unmarked section she knew contained their favourite genres. Bianca, Ruby and Weiss were at the counter, chatting up Tukson's son, Marcus.

"Good afternoon." Marcus greeted her. "I'll be right with you."

"Don't bother." Nova waved him off. "I'm with them."

"Very well." Marcus turned back to Bianca, but before he could, his scroll beeped several times in rapid succession. The colour of his face drained incredibly quickly as he checked his scroll for the message.

"There's someone who wishes to meet you two in the back." He managed to stammer out. Bianca clicked Myrtenaster's cylinder into its blue position as Nova disengaged the safety on her gauntlets. "She asked me to show you this coin."

Marcus took out an iron coin from the cashier's drawer and presented it to them. Unremarkable in its current dirty state, the face on the coin was nonetheless clear. They may have recognized the inscription on the sides, but neither released their holds on their weapons.

"Through here." He gestured towards the back door after they nodded to his request.

"Blake, show Ruby her new book and get yourself something too." Bianca handed over two hundreds before pushing on the storeroom door. "Try not to spend it all."

The storeroom was impeccably clean, with nary a book or box out of place. The only caveat was a woman sitting in a chair out of direct sight of the door. A light pink and brown parasol rested against her thigh as she observed them.

A pair of heterochromatic pink and brown eyes watched them with wariness but her hand made no move to grip the handle of her weapon. Her other hand held open a page on a thin closed book whose title they couldn't make out.

" _Greetings Neo On."_ Bianca signed out, causing the Neo to pause from pulling out her scroll to communicate.

" _Oh good. You know sign language. You're already much better than the people I work with."_ Neo replied, thrilled she wouldn't have to be limited to typing for a conversation. " _I assume you've recognized the coin Marcus showed you or you wouldn't be here. Not many would."_

" _It pays to know about the arcane. Especially with so many still around us."_

" _You and your team are interesting."_ Neo continued. " _I had a marvelous view of your striking entrance and the short performance you put on with the Dragon."_

" _Not my work I'm afraid."_ Nova responded. " _My leader's work. Why'd you arrange this meeting?"_

" _To satisfy my curiosity. I can feel the power you're both suppressing."_ Nova and Bianca didn't react to her statement. From different dimensions they may be, but certain pieces stayed the same. " _You aren't surprised."_

It was a statement, not a question.

" _Have you figured out who we are?"_ Bianca asked.

" _Your names I haven't managed to figure out, but I'm certain you're not from this dimension. The light show you put on was you tearing into this reality."_ Neo analysed. " _As to how you recognize the coin, know my name, and know I'm a sensor; you must know your dimension's Neo."_

" _Correct. You may call me Bianca and this is my wife, Nova. Is your curiosity sated for now?"_

" _For now."_ Neo repeated. " _I do however wish to meet your leader. There's something… off about her."_

" _I'm sure she'd like to meet as well."_ Nova pulled out her scroll and gave it to Neo. " _After all, like minds should stick together."_

Neo froze as she grabbed the offered scroll, contemplating the statement thrown her way. Her bright eyes receded into empty crystals devoid of life, much like a certain team leader's.

" _And what do you know about my mindset?"_ Neo asked as she inputted her contact information into the scroll and snapped a picture of her face for reference.

" _Only that my leader and you share much more than differently coloured eyes."_ Nova took her scroll back and returned it to her leg pouch. " _Anything more you want to know warrants a personal meeting."_

" _Any particular time and place?"_ Neo asked, throwing the ball into their side of the court. They couldn't tell if it was a small measure of trust or a show of power.

" _My leader and her partner are patrolling Beacon tonight. I'll tell them to expect you."_ Bianca responded, closing out their meeting.

" _I'll enjoy the challenge."_ Neo concluded. " _When you leave, ask Marcus for the coin. It's yours to keep."_

" _You're aware we'll have to notify Headmaster Ozpin about this meeting?"_ Bianca queried, hesitant about Neo's potential reaction.

" _Is that what he calls himself these days?"_ Neo said in mock surprise, silently laughing. " _Ozpin? Doesn't roll off the tongue like his original. Be sure to give him my regards."_

Neo dismissed them, returning back to her leisure reading, no doubt a book nicked from the countless filled boxes around her. Nova and Bianca filed out of the room and back into the bookstore where their new students awaited them in boredom.

"You're alive?" Marcus greeted them in shock.

"Of course. She wanted a meeting and nothing more." Bianca replied. "She also wanted us to have the coin."

He handed over the coin without another word, thoroughly terrified about the three powerful Aura users surrounding him, but beyond thankful they hadn't decided to brawl in his store.

"Who were you meeting?" Ruby asked.

"No one." Bianca replied. They ushered them out the door and began their short journey back to the docks.

"C'mon. Just tell us who you were meeting with." Ruby continued to pry.

"We told you the truth." Nova responded. "No one."

"Fine." Ruby huffed. "Don't tell me."

Bianca and Nova shared a knowing look. It really was the truth. Neo On was nothing more than a simple anagram for who she really was. Though, calling her Neopolitan may have thrown off her name was an anagram in the first place.

"Are we going home now." Ruby asked as they pathed the same way they went to the bookstore.

"Yes." Bianca pacified her. "You can meet Summer and Kara when we get back. Happy?"

The girl squealed in excitement at the prospect, eager to see how she'd changed considering Bianca and Nova were being incredibly tight lipped about her. Blake, however, had more reservations about meeting Kara as they had told her nothing about herself she didn't already know.

A couple minutes of walking in silence and they arrived back at the docks, their bullhead gleaming silver in the late evening sun. The crystal clear waters of Beacon's lake glistened in yellows and oranges, harkening twilight.

Getting by security was a breeze. Most aircraft in the area had been grounded due to the invasion in the cliffs above and only those with clearance or rank priority were allowed to pilot aircraft in the airspace.

A quick scan on the gates with their scrolls allowed them access to their ship and another scan unlocked it. Their previous haul sat securely tied by the cargo netting.

Blake helped Weiss slam the side door shut as Nova and Bianca disappeared into the cockpit. They would be no questions for this ride. It took less than five minutes to get from the docks to Beacon, a trip all of them could count off from the number of times a ferry had done the same.

In a matter of seconds, the craft lifted from its pad and roared forward, waves rippling from the jet exhaust as they angled to flight mode. Around them flew half a dozen or more aircraft, either flying towards the school or away from it, carrying construction material, food, weaponry; anything the school needed to replenish itself to become fully operational.

Instead of waiting in line for one of the three pads to open up, Nova brought the craft around to the side, back to the hangar. It was not only closer to the dorms to make unpacking easier but it saved them the time of playing chicken with the other pilots.

Just as when they left, the hangar's roof remained open, ready to accept them. Nova set the aircraft down gently next to its twin, guiding it through the opening.

Ruby flung the door open before the engines completed spinning down.

"Ruby!" Bianca called after her. "You don't know where our room is."

"How are you planning on getting all of that into your room?" Weiss asked. "Multiple trips?"

"Multiple trips are for the weak." Nova removed the net from their cargo and placed it on the floor. She then placed all of their bought items into the netting and wrapped it all tightly into a misshapen ball of boxes and hard angles. "You're going to carry it all."

"I'm sorry. What?" Weiss blinked blankly back at her. "I'm the smallest person here. You can't expect me to carry all of it. Make Yang do it."

"Hey." Came the predicted response from Yang. She waved her stump around to emphasize her next point. "One arm."

"Watch." Bianca spawned a glyph underneath the cargo and another smaller pair at the sides to keep it in place. She then repeated the same three glyphs multiple times, layering them in front of the cargo, leading them out the door and into the hanger. Nova gave the cargo a push and it gliding along until the glyphs ended and impacted the ground, yet another glyph softening the impact. "See? Easy."

"I've never tried to sustain more than one glyph at a time." Weiss replied.

"Never know until you try." Bianca pushed the girl out of the craft. "If you can't do three, try to at least get it to the dorms with one and we'll guide it in a straight line."

Weiss looked back in uncertainty but a returned stare of confidence from her team bolstered her resolve. She spawned a glyph under the cargo and tested the weight. Even if the cargo altogether weighed around fifty kilo, every second it rested on her glyph slowly drained her pool of Aura.

She spawned another glyph in front of it, again testing the difficulty of keeping two glyphs sustained. Then came the challenging part of lowering the glyphs' coefficient of friction to zero and maintaining it as she pushed the cargo along. She gave a sharp grunt of surprise as the second glyph took on the weight of the cargo, dropping her core to slightly above three quarters.

Bianca had made it look easy. She felt pathetic compared to her. She had easily generated twelve glyphs just in the short span it took to move the cargo from the fuselage and she couldn't even spawn two without straining her core.

"Getting tired?" Bianca remarked, noticing the bead of sweat on Weiss' temple.

"It took a fourth of my Aura to move the cargo approximately three meters." Weiss slipped behind her analytical defences. "I don't even stand the chance of moving the cargo to the hangar doors."

"Was I this bad during my first year?" Bianca asked Nova as the latter moved the place her hand on Weiss' shoulder. "Keep going until you run out of Aura."

"Yeah. Just about." Nova brushed aside Weiss' protests of continuing and prodded her forward. "You put yourself through hell for four years to get to where you are now."

"On the off chance I don't die from Aura exhaustion, how many can you control at once?" Weiss ground out as she continued to push the weight forward.

"Two hundred, three hundred. I honestly never bothered the count." Bianca closed the hangar roof with her scroll and pressed another button to open the side door for their cargo. "But that's years away. Focus on getting up to three for now."

"Three hundred!" This revelation broke Weiss' concentration and caused the cargo to stop. Nova, however, didn't release her shoulder, urging her to continue. "I'm never going to get there."

"As I said, that's years away." Bianca said. "Also, remind me to hit Ozpin and Glynda over their heads if they don't upgrade the curriculum. This is just sad."

"Not everyone has had four years of grueling training like you have had." Weiss made the final push to the door's threshold. "We just finished our first year."

"Excuses, excuses." Bianca waved her words aside. "Now, why'd you stop?"

"Because I'm drained…" Weiss wiped the sweat off her forehead and checked her reserves again. To her surprise, she noticed they hadn't dipped at all during her short jaunt and might have even filled up a bit. "I'm confused."

"You're tired from the mental strain of the exercise, but as long as I'm connected to you, you'll have all the Aura you need to get to the dorms." Nova explained. "Keep going. It's only another hundred metres."

"Only another hundred metres she says." The little tidbit of information of Nova sharing her Aura with Weiss completely flew over the young team's head. "Why don't you try carrying all of this?"

Nova took up the challenge and released her shoulder. She grabbed the netting and cleanly lifted it with one hand, arm not even shaking from the strain required.

"You were saying?" Nova chided as she latched back onto Weiss' shoulder and began feeding her Aura into her. Weiss grumbled something about overpowered blondes under her breath but resumed her task nonetheless.

Weiss pushed out into the twilight with Ruby dutifully following and providing words of encouragement. The other three were however stopped by one of them freezing at the threshold to the outside.

"What is it?" Yang stopped by Blake's side.

"I've never had my ears exposed for any time at Beacon." One of Blake's ears twitched.

"You were fine having them exposed down in the district."

"That's different. Marcus already knew and I didn't know anyone else down there. This is my home, the only home I've got right now. I don't want to screw it up."

"What's there to screw up?" Bianca stepped to Blake's other side. "This is your home. Everyone who knows already doesn't care and those who do care aren't worth worrying about."

Yang slipped her hand in Blake's as a comforting gesture, squeezing it lightly.

"Let's go lovebirds. They won't wait up for us." Bianca stalked towards the other group, leaving them to follow. They shared blushes before jogging to catch up.

"Are you not tired from sharing your Aura with me?" Weiss asked after they passed the halfway point to the dorms. Her team dutifully followed behind her and would have helped her long ago if Nova hadn't told them not to.

"No. I could refill you and your team around a hundred times before I would feel a dent in my pool." If it was anyone else, Team RWBY would have called bullshit and called her out for bragging.

"Either our pools are ridiculously small compared to yours or you're just an Aura monster." Blake analysed. It was impossible to gauge a Hunter's reserve unless they had the proper equipment. All Hunter issued scrolls had the ability to measure the percentage a Hunter had, but measuring the amount stored was something the scroll couldn't do.

"It's kind of both." Nova passed enough Aura to Weiss to complete the push to the dorm doors. "It's nothing more than a handy byproduct of using my Semblance and four years of training."

"How?" Yang asked as Weiss collapsed onto the ground, finished with her task.

"Haven't you experimented with your Semblance?" Nova looked at her in wonder.

"Yeah. I get punched and I punch back harder."

"That's the most basic definition you could ever make about our Semblance."

"Then enlighten me, oh wise one."

"What happens when you get punched and you have your Semblance activated?"

"I don't know." The question stumped Yang. "I've never thought about it, I just use it."

"Our Semblance is very useful. It does exactly as you say but it can do so much more. Whenever we take a hit with our Semblance active, the kinetic energy from the hit is converted into Aura at the cost of Aura, which allows us to withstand enormous amounts of damage as long as we have the Aura to fuel it."

"I'm following." Neither of them noticed as Weiss climbed up onto the cargo and forced Bianca to carry her. Ruby looked entirely put out at not being able to ride with her and was forced to march beside it. Blake continued to be led by her hand as she read her book with the other, keeping a small part of her mind on the conversation next to her.

"Aura usage is much like exercise. The more it's used, the more you'll have available. Now, burning Aura is easy and all, but the method of burning Aura is important and this is where our Semblance shines. It's not just a punch or a kick that can be absorbed by the Semblance, but the simple action of stepping forward onto the ground registers as an impact."

"That's...I've never seen it in that way before. So I can be training even as I'm walking to class?"

"Yes. Now this isn't why my Aura pools are so massive. Our Semblance has a secondary ability I call Aura synthesis." Nova bent down a picked up a stray pebble off of the path. "Does this pebble contain energy?"

"This is a trick question isn't it?" Yang looked at the pebble in confusion, trying to get another angle on it. "I'm guessing yes."

"You're right. Me holding this pebble above the ground gives it potential energy and if I threw it, it would have kinetic energy. But it also contains what is called mass-energy, energy which any object with mass has intrinsically. You'll learn about it when you take physics next semester."

Nova checked to see if she still had her attention and if she understood the concept so far.

"By the Law of Conservation of Energy, neither Aura nor energy can be created, only converted from one form or another. Your Semblance allows you to easily convert kinetic energy to Aura and vice versa, such as taking a punch and giving a punch in return which you see as being hit and being able to give an even harder punch in return, which is nothing more than your Aura absorbing the impact and you subconsciously strengthening your limbs with the Aura gained."

"Hold up. I can gain Aura from absorbing impacts?"

"That's how our Semblance works after all. While it can absorb impacts at the cost of Aura, it can synthesise Aura as well. This process only works when enough energy is funneled into your Semblance to offset the cost of converting it to Aura. Thus, we have a theoretically infinite amount of Aura. You can probably guess I expanded my reserves by abusing this very simple mechanic."

"That's not fair." Ruby voiced off, apparently engrossed in this conversation.

"That's so broken. So what is this thing about the pebble?"

"I'll tell you in a few months if you haven't figured it out. Ask your physics professor for some hints about mass-energy if you're stuck. Think about it." Nova abruptly ended their conversation and jumped up to the second story of the dorms using Bianca's glyphs as platforms.

"That's our room." Bianca pointed out as Nova crept through the window and disappeared from her sight. "And judging by the lack of gunshots, Summer and Kara have already left for their night patrol."

"Is that the usual way they greet each other?" Ruby asked, disappointed she wouldn't get to meet Summer and Kara today.

"It's their usual response if someone enters the room while sleeping." Bianca replied while unlashing the cargo. "Yang, you're kinda useless for this part so just practice using your Semblance while pacing in a circle. You three are helping me move this."

Bianca spawned three glyphs, zigzagging them up the wall. She indicated for each of them to occupy one of the glyphs as Yang began stamping her foot, trying to get a feel for how her Semblance functioned.

Blake sighed in irritation at having her reading time interrupted but complied nonetheless, taking the topmost glyph. Ruby took the middle one and Weiss stayed at the lowest one. Bianca started handing each item upwards, watching for any wobbles or failures in the link. She noted each of them knew how to apply their Aura to strengthen themselves.

When the last item made its way through the door, she snagged the cargo net from the ground and tapped Yang to break her from her meditative trance.

"We're done. Come on." Bianca jumped up the glyphs with Yang at her heels. She had to spawn a few more glyphs as Yang overbalanced or underbalanced her jumps as she got used to one side of her body weighing a bit less.

"Do we get to meet Summer and Kara tomorrow?" Ruby asked the very second Bianca came in through the window.

"I already told you little Rose, you'll meet her in the morning." Nova ruffled her hair. "Now scram and go to sleep."

"But it's only 2100." She whined.

"You have a new book. Go read it." Ruby disappeared faster than she could blink. Unfortunately she ran the wrong way once in the hallway, but Nova was sure she'd realize that sooner than later. Hopefully. "Go with her. You have a long day tomorrow. Get a good night's sleep."

Blake pulled Yang through the door, all the while reading from a book that had a suspiciously fake cover on it.

"By the way." Blake popped her head back into the room. "Yang will not be joining you tonight. She's mine."

She disappeared back into the open hallway, leaving three Hunters in the room.

"Well Weiss. There goes my plan for my threesome." Nova turned to towards the girl, striding towards the door and closing it. "You wanna play cards?"

"I was expecting an invitation in lieu of Yang rejecting hers." Weiss dryly replied.

"If you really want to then I'm all up for it."

"I don't think you could handle two of us." Bianca whispered seductively into her ear.

"I've dreamt of it." Nova whispered back. "We'll never know if we don't try."

"If you two are going to get frisky, I'll just go." Weiss made to stand up but Bianca pulled her down by her skirt.

"Stay. We can use this time to deal with some of your questions before Ruby and Blake meet Summer and Kara tomorrow. Playing cards just gives us something to do."

"Besides, it'll screw with your teammates in the morning when they realize you decided to sleep over." Nova added. "And you come back with tousled hair, rearranged clothes and a limp."

"I never agreed to a threesome."

"You can act well enough if the years we've spent with the Schnees is anything to go by." Weiss froze at Bianca's remark, looking horrified at Nova. "She knows. My entire team knows."

"Oh…" Weiss wasn't sure how to react.

"You can let it out." Bianca moved to sit beside her and pulled her head onto her shoulder. "I know how terrible our parents were, but you'll always have Winter and you'll always have your team."

Weiss didn't say anything, resting her head as she struggled to muster tears through dried up tear ducts. Years of carefully cultivating her perfect heiress mask were brushed aside in one as Ruby's incessant optimism and bubbly personality chipped away at it. Blake and Yang too, on a lesser degree as she spent the most time with her partner, but they became sisters for the times Winter couldn't be there for her.

The Schnees had done their best to create the very monster Summer had become. Their methods may not have been as deprived as the systematic torture Summer had gone through, but years of neglect and harsh lessons of love could create something damn similar.

Summer had nearly ordered the destruction of Schnee Castle and the execution of every single Schnee when she found out. She settled on a much more effective form of destruction after giving it some thought.

"You don't want to go back to Atlas I take it?" Bianca felt Weiss nod. "Then don't."

The absolutely simple answer garnered no immediate response from Weiss as she mulled it over.

"How? My father's going to issue summons any day now and I'll be forced to fly back or he'll send his security force to haul me back in to be disciplined." They both knew exactly what type of discipline their sperm donor prefered.

"You can do what I did and get married to someone from Vale to secure your citizenship and then renounce your Atlesian one. Then he legally wouldn't be able to do anything to you." Bianca joked and gave a light chuckle. "But there's another, much more simple way."

"What is it?"

"Do people really not read the inside covers of their passports? It's on the seventh page." Bianca quipped. "It states a civilian forfeits his or her citizenship by either renouncing it before a consular officer or, the one you and Pyrrha have already violated, by serving in the armed forces of a foreign government. You're a Hunter under Ozpin's commands, not under James'."

"Well that sucks. That really sucks. There's absolutely no law protecting me from him simply kidnapping me."

"But that's where you're wrong. Under the Great War Treaty of Cassus, citizens are allowed to serve under foreign governments as long as they serve within the Hunter faction. You still retain Atlesian citizenship, but because of the careful screening each applicant goes through, upon acceptance, you're guaranteed citizenship of the city-state you serve in. You can see where I'm going with this."

"So I could just leave Atlas behind completely?"

"I suggest draining your joint bank account with the Schnees and opening up a completely separate one. One last little kick in the teeth. The moment you became a Vale Hunter was the moment you became free."

"Are you two done plotting her independence or can we get a game started?" Nova interrupted them.

"No. What about Winter. Could they hurt her?"

"Winter is a protected by James as the next General of Atlas. They can't touch her personally, but they can severely impact Atlas' economy. They provide Dust and weaponry for their military and Hunters at reduced costs, provided the council gives them a legal monopoly over these. You should warn her if this is what you want to do."

"I'll warn her tomorrow." Nova dealt out three piles, letting them continue their schemes as she patiently sat and waiting for them to finish.

"We'll also have to warn James. With Atlas having to answer for their droids being used to mount an attack on Vale, the SDC's resources could come a long ways for repairing relations between the two states. He'll have to factor some aggression on their part for your independence."

"Sounds like a plan." Weiss grabbed one of the piles on the floor. "What game?"

"Big Two." Nova said. "You get first turn."

"I just don't want to make James' life harder than it has to be." Weiss placed down a pair of twos.

"We could wait until the very last second. Whenever you get your summons to come home, you can quickly transfer money, renounce your citizenship in front of James and simply replace it with one from Vale. Remind me to warn Ozpin too."

"And if my father sends over his security forces to ensure I come home?"

"You're an adult now meaning he has no claims to you. You can disown the name, which your father will no doubt strip from you anyways. If he continues to press, then he'll be charged with the attempted kidnapping of a foreign military personnel."

"Which he wouldn't ever attempt." Weiss concluded.

Bianca and Nova both agreed outwardly, but inside, they were worried this would be exactly what he would try. He'd try along the legal route first, but if he couldn't get his way, he would send his security force to convince Weiss to come home.

He was smart enough to realise the attempt would be immediately linked to him. With Weiss no longer being a part of the Schnees, he would be the only party with the motive to bring her back to the family. Atlas would protect him with all the Dust and weaponry his company provides at reduced cost for power in the council and Vale would have to protect its Hunter. It would hurt the strained relationship between the two even more than the failed invasion, which Vale could write off as a poorly executed terrorist attack.

However, if Weiss fell under the same protection Winter fell under, becoming his surrogate daughter, Schnee couldn't touch her. James had enough pressure to force his council to revoke the monopoly the SDC had on weaponry and Dust.

They hadn't even been in this dimension for two whole days and they already had plans within plans, but they already had the added benefit of planning during a time of peace and knowing the possible actions certain people could take. James was gaining daughters by the days.

Weiss looked at Bianca weirdly as she chuckled out of nowhere at this thought. Several rounds of cards had gone by in silence before her chuckling.

"What?"

"Nothing important." Bianca swept the round with a bomb. "You have a few questions I assume?"

"Not many. What you've showed me about your Semblance is nothing new; you've just had years of practice over me and your personal life is none of my concern. You are who I want to become in the future, but you haven't mentioned Summoning. You could have summoned the Arma Gigas and carried the cargo, but you used glyphs to move it."

"Truth is that I suck at Summoning and I don't like using it. I decided to focus on generating and manipulating glyphs, just as Winter decided to focus on summoning over direct manipulation. Either one of us could work on the other, but we're both set in our ways. I can't help you if you want to learn it, but that doesn't mean I can't help you with the former."

"Damn. Winter was only here for a few days during the tournament. She coached me a little bit but then she had to leave for Atlas again. Self study it is then." She pouted at the notion. "What made you decide to jump to a different dimension?"

"Boredom and curiosity." Nova answered. There was no way they were telling anyone the true extent of their planet's fall. Yang may have known one small tidbit, but giving her the small piece of information was nothing more than a test. If Yang kept her silence, then they would scold her for hiding secrets from her team and if she decided to tell them, then nothing would come of it.

"Really?" Weiss arched a perfectly manicured eyebrow. "You decided to jump into another dimension because you were bored and curious?"

Flimsy excuse but their secret was going to go to hell anyways if Yang came through. Hunters were naturally intelligent and would demand answers or investigate if certain conclusions didn't add up. Not even Ozpin could keep them a secret with their grandiose entrance as Neo put it. They could see Weiss looking at them suspiciously, looking for signs of deceit.

"Ask Yang if you want. We already told her."

"I would, but she seems to be busy with Blake at the moment." Weiss had noticed the possessive words Blake threw to Nova as she left the room.

"They're talking. They can't do anything with Ruby in the room and they wouldn't anyways. They don't want to screw this up by jumping too far too fast."

"That wasn't what I was implying but it'd still be rude to interrupt. Pervert."

"Ruby's probably interrupting them as it is anyways. Either Ruby doesn't care and is happy for them or they kicked her out to Team JNPR."

"Ruby loves her team and loves her sister even more." Weiss agreed. "She won't blink an eye at their relationship. The only thing they need to watch out for tomorrow is people's reactions to Blake's ears and Team JNPR's reaction to them dating."

"At least Nora and Ren will have a couple to talk with now."

"Nora and Ren aren't dating." Weiss contradicted them.

Bianca and Nova blinked at Weiss, then turned to each other and blinked again.

"They're dating." They responded in unison.

"No, they're not." Weiss insisted.

"Do they act like they're dating?" Bianca parried.

"Not really. Sometimes they act like it but Ren or Nora quickly deny it."

"They're dating." Nova sing songed. "Secretly dating mind you but still dating."

"You haven't even met the Nora and Ren of this universe."

"We knew the Nora and Ren of our universe extremely well so we're assuming this Nora and Ren would be similar to ours. We could be completely wrong and they are so completely in love with each other they fear a relationship would ruin their friendship."

"That actually sounds something Nora and Ren would do." Weiss couldn't help but remember all the awkward moments between the two whenever someone insinuated something between the two, how they would blush, look at each other and stammer a negative. "I'm an idiot. It's the same dance Yang and Blake do all the time."

"And there goes the fabled genius of Beacon, figuring it out. Now we're left with the task of getting those two to admit their feelings and start dating. Ideas?"

"Nope. I'm as clueless as any teenager. Try inviting one of them to a threesome and watch how the other reacts."

"Please note, my dear wife, that his idea came from the very same person who called not only Blake a pervert, but also both of us." Nova gave an evil chuckle. "The corruption is going along very well."

"It worked for Yang and Blake, so it should work on them." Weiss defended her point. "Both repressed or scared of the other's reaction because they care for each other. How did you two end up together?"

"I punched her after she suggested I should date Neptune." There may have been a few less walls standing after her punch. "Then the obligatory yelling she was dense and she punched me back for not being more clear on giving signals."

"Violent. Maybe Nora could punch Ren and they could work it out. Then again, a Nora punch would probably flatten Ren like a pancake."

"Good one. We could lock them in a room together until they confess but Nora would probably break down the walls before long."

"Maybe just seeing Blake and Yang together will cause them to act." Bianca added. "Crowd psychology states seeing others dating makes you more comfortable to date. While not a totally accurate definition, it may make them more likely to begin doing so."

"That's the plan? Hope?" Weiss looked incredulous. "You practically forced Blake and Yang together."

"Screwing with ourselves is allowed. We're similar enough to the point where we can act as older sisters. Screwing with others is a bit less allowed." Bianca explained their weird morality on the case. "Blake and Yang are so head over heels it was painful watching them. If we see Nora and Ren acting in the same fashion, then we can give them a push."

"Real sisterly affection there when you've propositioned two of us to sleep with you." Weiss' sarcasm bit back. "You gonna ask Blake and Ruby too?"

"I could. I've already slept with Summer and Kara before." That was more for curiosities sake than any real attraction.

"And you let her?" Weiss rounded on Bianca. "Your wife cheated on you and you're still with her?"

"I was right there with her." Bianca laughed. "It was fun and novel but that was really all to it."

"Perverts. I'm surrounded by perverts." Weiss abruptly threw her cards to the floor and stomped out of the room. "Good night!"

Bianca and Nova descended in giggles as Weiss slammed the door shut, shaking the walls with the strength she put into it.

"I'm going to enjoy corrupting her. Maybe we should show her the sex tape?" Bianca paled at Nova's idea. "Do you not have it?"

"It's on the drive." Nova paled with her. Ozpin was going to have a good time once he found that file.

"Shit."

* * *

 **AN** : I'm alive. Time to clear some things up with names and appearances. Creating names and making them fit a word took the better part of two days.

Summer - Ruby took the name to honour her mother. Looks like Summer, bar the scars and eye.

Kara - Means Black in Azerbaijani. Looks like her mother Kali Belladonna.

Bianca - Means White in Italian. Looks like A2 from Nier:Automata with short hair.

Nova - From the word Supernovae. Another hint is in the hint she gave Yang in this chapter. Looks like Yang but slightly taller and with shorter hair.

Cassus - The name of the dragon shaped island of Remnant, meaning barren in Latin.

I want to explain my thinking as to why Nova and Bianca believe there is no such thing as a Faunus and this will offend many people. They don't believe there is a separation between Faunus and humans. Now calling them Faunus versus humans will sound racist, no doubt, but bear with me. In America today, August 2017, there are racial tensions between whites and blacks and I believe the only reason this exists is because people label themselves as either white or black, or they label others as white or black. This creates a massive divide between the two ethnicities. If people could just simply label themselves as humans, this would all stop and in the same manner, if Faunus saw themselves as humans with a few animal traits, and humans simply saw them in the same manner, there wouldn't be a need for the White Fang. Do what Ozpin does and accept people, regardless of a pair of ears or eyes.

This also extends to how I view the LGBT community. Not once have I used the terminology gay or lesbian to describe a relationship and I never will. Labeling brings unnecessary divides among people. I simply see it as two humans in love or in mutual attraction. Nothing more. Nova is attracted to Bianca and vice versa and that's it, nothing more. Don't sully it with labels, its just two humans in a relationship. In Remnant, I believe they have stamped out hate for people with different melanin count, and with lesbian and gay relationships.

If only the world worked in such a manner.


	6. Six - Cracks

Chapter Six

* * *

 **Cracks**

* * *

 _Beacon - Arena Three (Partially Destroyed) - 0200 Hours_

There was a reason Summer was rarely allowed on solo missions and never allowed to patrol alone. If she was left alone then there'd be nothing in her head, leaving her alone with her thoughts; nothing but a blank canvas.

Her mind was her self preservation instincts incarnate. It was a danger to spend time with her team, let alone other Hunters. It had taken weeks for Summer to convince herself that Kara was not a threat to her.

Months later, her mind had settled. She had some control over which thoughts she listened to. Sometimes it called for the blood of everyone it deemed a threat, sometime sheer carnage could placate it, and other times it just wanted to have fun.

The absolute void surrounding her on top of the arena she perched on was threatening to let these thoughts loose.

It didn't help Ozpin had assigned them to the east side of the campus where they had burned the corpses of the White Fang members they had caught who were stupid enough to not listen to the retreat call. She'd been forced to burn them when the penitentiary had been destroyed and Bianca didn't have the Aura to spare to keep them imprisoned.

Ozpin had given them this sector for a reason, a quiet disagreement to their methods. But what was a dozen more deaths added to their kill counts. The man had more blood on his hands than the four of them combined anyways.

A hand on her shoulder broke her line of thought, as if sensing the violent properties of them.

" _We have visitors."_ It was only by the grace of the moon she could read Kara's handsigns.

"You know, this sounds like the beginning of a bad joke." Summer quipped to the empty air. "Two mutes, a headmaster and a team leader meet atop a destroyed arena."

The air in front of them shimmered briefly before cracking into hundred of shards, each shard reflecting a different piece of scenery. They hung in the air before collapsing onto the floor, revealing the same background but this time including a white, brown and pink haired mute, ever accompanied by her parasol.

" _I was wondering why your teammates knew sign language."_ Neo replied. " _Having a teammate unable to speak explains it. It's always a pleasure to see our language being used. May I ask your names?"_

Summer gave her name and Kara signed hers in return.

" _I came because I was curious, but Nova's words brought my attention."_ Summer's silver eye glowed dull against the moonlight. " _I can tell she wasn't wrong. I can feel your emptiness."_

"An unfortunate byproduct of my time as a prisoner of the White Fang."

" _Mine was from the years of systematic identity destruction. Liberating, isn't it?"_

"To a certain degree. To no longer feel fear, pain, envy, or hate. Nothing left but a blank slate left to be drawn on anew."

" _To create something new, carve yourself a new personality from the shambles of the old."_ Neo finished for her. " _What comes out can only ever emulate, never truly feel."_

They let the silence enfold them, each gauging the entity hidden within the other. Neo's was much older, much more tame and Summer's was newer but much more primal. Invisible avatars appeared behind the two women, chained only by the wills of their masters, ready to shed chaos on the world around them.

"I like you." A predatory grin made its appearance on Summer.

" _I'm flattered and all, but I've one love and he happens to be listening in on this conversation."_

"A man is curious." A new voice spoke from the shadows of a column. "A man is flattered."

" _A girl is irritated. I don't like the name Ozpin, change it."_

"Tough. I'm liking this name and the position I'm in. I intend to keep it for as long as I can." Ozpin stepped from the shadow and joined the triangle, his usual mug of hot chocolate in his hand. "You two don't look surprised."

"I don't care about your relationship."

" _I've seen weirder."_

" _They probably already knew. Why have you come from your tower to greet little old me? You shouldn't have."_

"I haven't seen you in years, but your movements have been much more easier to track since you attached yourself to Roman Torchwick."

" _He died in the assault on your school. It was fun while he lasted; all the chaos we caused. The people he attached himself to were a different story however. Not the most pleasant sort."_

"I warned you to stay away from her."

" _I met her once. She's nothing like you. Emptiness is a much more pleasurable feeling compared to the ball of wrath, spite and vengefulness trapped within her. It took everything I had not to throw up when I sensed her."_

"And here I thought my team had fucked up family dynamics. Therapy at least helped with us, but you and Salem really take the cake."

"Lack of discipline and care in our childhoods I'm afraid." Ozpin looked the trio in front of him over. "Neo, you're welcome to make your appearances at Beacon public or you can disappear into the world again. Your choice."

" _And leave the fun to all your underlings? Fun is all I have left. No, I'm going back to Salem and Cinder. They'll use me as they always have and I'll have some fun while I'm at it."_

"I can't save you if you get caught."

" _Then I guess I won't get caught."_ She retorted. " _Do I at least get a kiss for good luck this time?"_

"If only you were taller." Neo's image cracked and fractured again, shards falling away as she stepped up to Ozpin, revealing a taller version of herself, reaching his eyes.

She pressed a chaste kiss to his lips before stepping away and turning back towards her fellow broken soul.

" _I'll come by every once in awhile for a chat or a spar."_ Her image started to shatter again, but not before she mouthed a last farewell. " _Bye Evander_."

She was gone.

"I wonder if she ever was here or if we've been talking to an illusion this entire time." Summer pondered.

"Her illusions are good enough to fool all of us. You really don't care about our relationship at all, do you?"

"Care? No. Interested. Yes. Neo never said anything about knowing you in our dimension, but then again, you were MIA. There was never a reason to bring you up."

" _You said something about allowing her to make appearances publically, as in she's on Beacon frequently but in disguise."_

"It's a game. She sends me a message whenever she happens to be on campus and I do my best to find her. She's frighteningly good at imitating her target and I haven't managed to figure out who she impersonates whenever she comes by."

"Guess me and her will have some fun then."

"Don't destroy my school if you do find her. I have enough of a mess to deal with as it is." He let the silence drift over them momentarily. "How are you dealing with your time jump? You weren't expecting to jump dimensions and even if you did, you're still dealing with having to see all of your friends alive."

" _It's beyond jarring. I didn't think we'd get here in time to save Pyrrha, but not only did we save her, but also the school, the CCTS and you. It's weird seeing people and districts you know are dead or destroyed."_

"I doubt you'll seek me out for help since you have each other, but you and your team are always welcome to talk to me. War never leaves anyone unmarked."

"Have you reviewed the mission proposal I sent you?" Summer brushed aside his concerns.

"Not yet. I was busy with the gift you left me."

"Everything on the hard drive was a gift. You'll have to be more specific."

"An unprofessional and very lewd video." Kara got the hint as her jaw set and cheeks turned a rosy red.

"Professionality is overrated." Kara smacked her on the shoulder. "The video's existence slipped my mind, but you're welcome to forward a copy to Glynda."

Kara smacked her again, expressing her displeasure.

"Nevermind. Keep it to yourself and try not to over excite yourself, crotchety old man."

"Old I may be but I'm far from crotchety." Ozpin bantered back. It was relieving she wasn't calling him 'sir' or watching her language in front of him. He got more than enough of that from his students. "What is this proposal?"

"It's permission to establish an outpost at Mountain Glenn. No funds would be needed and no teams besides my own. The proposal contains the blueprints from the outpost established in our dimension."

"You just got out of a war that demolished your world and you're already planning for the next one in this dimension. Do you not take breaks?"

"Salem will not stop planning. Stopping her attack on Beacon will do nothing more than cause her to change her plans. Do I have your permission?"

"You don't need my permission. The mission proposal is nothing but a courtesy. Vale doesn't control Mountain Glenn and neither do I. You're not asking for anything from me except for time, time you already have for this summer. What are the reasons as to why you want to create an expansionary base instead of fortifying Beacon?"

"Salem will not attack Beacon again, even with the slight she received from the failure she had. She knows the holes within Atlas' droid programming will've been fixed and lacks Roman to steal her the source code again."

" _Adam will not consent to losing any more men, especially after this failure. The only reason he boldly attacked Beacon was because of the guarantee Atlas' droids provided in minimizing losses, allowing the White Fang to show its dominance by attacking the main base of the Hunters. If they succeeded, Vale would've begun to truly fear the White Fang, not the passing fear they received for raiding convoys and causing unrest."_

"Mountain Glenn would allow the Hunters to truly have a base of operations. Most of the city remains below ground and we can cave in most of the access points, using the existing train lines as a major route to and from. The roof can be reinforced by scrapping the above ground buildings, and if I'm correct, the water and electricity lines are intact, just turned off."

"I'll do you one better. I'll siphon money from the council, claiming we actually lost more in infrastructure than we thought and the excess money will be forwarded to the project. I'll obtain the deed to a building on top of an existing rail line and have it converted to a station. I'll also move half a dozen teams away from Beacon to help, if you'll agree to take over the position of High Commander."

"Done." The instantaneous answer caused Ozpin to falter, having expected more resistance from her, but he didn't let it catch him for long. He should have expected it from the woman he expected to succeed him. "I knew you'd ask me eventually. The moment you refused to take the emblem from me and I learned you had no successor, was the moment I resigned myself to watching over the Hunters again."

"Many would feel honoured to be in the same position as you."

"Most people also don't have the knowledge or experience to lead the Hunters. The only person who comes close to either is Neo, but she's known as a criminal. The next people in line would be Glynda and Qrow, but Glynda doesn't have the aptitude nor temperament to lead and Qrow is needed as a spymaster, leaving someone out of your chain of command. Do not mistake my acceptance for honour. It is nothing more than duty to my people."

"I won't be abandoning your side during the conflicts to come Summer. I'll be right there by your side as an advisor, if you need me. I can advise, I can mediate; I can still perform my duties as an administrator. I can do everything except lead in battle, which you'll do for me."

"If you need a charismatic face to lead in battle, then you clearly haven't read any of the notes from my therapy sessions or any other reports compiled. You want charismatic; make Bianca the High Commander. If you want brutal efficiency, decisive battle planning, and a touch of immorality, then I'm your girl."

"Why should Bianca take on this role over for you?"

"My leadership was only secured because of Bianca. She was the face of my command, the power behind long term plans and one of my anchors. The only job I performed better was leading in battle, fighting on the ground, and paperwork."

"Yes. I read the reports. Without her Semblance, your war would have been lost much sooner." Ozpin agreed. "But your presence on the battlefield was a deterrent for even engaging in firefights. Why do you keep selling yourself short?"

"Selling myself short would be retiring. It gets tiring watching people die Ozpin, especially the ones you're responsible for." Summer realized his point. "Which is why you asked me. I'll do it, but you're scraping the abandoned bases from Vale's military and shipping their contents to Glenn."

"Is that all?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow. Bargaining with an equal was always refreshing. "It'll take a long time you understand of course. Vale's council mustn't know we're expanding in this manner."

"Of course. One last few things." Summer added. "Does the armory contain either flashbangs or air horns and duct tapes?"

"Flashbangs, yes." He hadn't received any other requests from her team. "Planning for a raid?"

"Something like that?" Summer grinned at him. It wasn't a pleasant one. "Are you interested in a prank?"

"Always. On who?"

"Just Tai for now, but when Winter comes by for Weiss, then her as well."

"Your plan for Winter might not work. James has been cooped up in the tower all day in video conferences with his council, Vale's council and I'm assuming Winter." Ozpin got an inkling of the way their pranks were to be structured. "But I'd be glad to help with Tai."

"Tai will visit later on today to check on his daughters. Did Summer ever leave a backup white cloak at Beacon?" Ozpin's eyes lit up in mirth. "Did Raven ever leave any of her clothes here as well?"

"I'm sure they did." All students and Hunters treated Beacon as home. Certain lockers remained under storage for this particular reason, even those whose owners were AWOL or deceased. "That's mean Summer. I want pictures."

"Kara and Bianca will snap plenty. Be sure to warn us when Tai is close to Beacon. We'll need some time to set up." Summer let the wind speak for her, ending their conversation. "And the next time you disagree with my methods, make sure you give me an explicit no kill order. Don't do this passive-aggressiveness. I'm not one of your students anymore."

He gave a noncommittal grunt and disappeared. No shadow, no gust of air, no portal, no shimmer; no indication of any mode of transport. He just vanished.

Summer looked over to her wife. They still had a couple hours to go until sunrise.

* * *

 _Room 217_

Summer stepped into their room first to protect the tray of food Kara carried. They were lucky the rooms were generally soundproof or the shotgun slug Summer tilted her head to avoid would have woken the teams around them. It left a clean hole on the door frame.

"Good morning." Summer replied to her sister's greeting as she juggled a pair of grenades in her hands. "Slept well?"

"How was the patrol?" Nova jibbed back, throwing the covers off of them, both her and Bianca jumping out of the bed and ready for the day. "Any late night meetings?"

"There was one. Neo did show, but Ozpin also decided he wanted to join in." Summer debriefed them as Kara handed out two of the smoothies and granola bars to her teammates. "She'll be returning to Salem for the time being."

"I'm surprised you two didn't get into a fight." Bianca growled out through a yawn, shaking off the night's clutches. "Why did Ozpin show up?"

"Neo and him have a relationship apparently." Summer waited for Nova to drink from her smoothie. "More than a platonic one."

Nova sputtered out a gulp of her smoothie as she struggled to clear her air passage from the shock. Bianca hit her once to dislodge the rest.

"She's half his height." Kara looked at Bianca akin to disbelief, tilting her head to further emphasize her point.

" _And you're a head shorter than Nova. Your point?"_ Kara balanced the tray of food on one hand and signed out with her other. " _She only gave him a light kiss before she disappeared back to Salem."_

"She can make herself taller through her illusions, and can apparently make them solid enough to interact with the environment around her." Summer continued. "She also roams the school from time to time, in disguise, for amusement and has never been caught."

"An ability our Neo never revealed to us." Bianca filed away this piece of information away, her words muffled as she pulled on a silver sports bra. "Can we use her relationship with Ozpin as leverage for her cooperation?"

"Perhaps, but I err on the side of no." Summer analysed. "They are both old enough to easily cut ties with each other at a moment's notice, but I don't know the strength of their relationship. She could have always been working for Ozpin, or she and him are nothing more than two acquaintances who happen to cross paths and enjoy playing with each other."

"Which sounds more like the Neo we know." Yang fitted her breasts into their binds as she prepared for the day. She regretted their size at times. "We could ask her nicely. We speculated about her reasons for helping us in our dimension, but she never confirmed any of it."

" _All we got from her was she was helping us for fun and chaos. Perhaps without Ozpin to curb her tendencies and take her attention she retreated into the only thing Summer and her share in common, sowing chaos and death."_

"Yet if that was her reason, then she would have racked up more chaos by constantly switching sides, disguising herself as different people and creating tension." Bianca added. "The Neo we knew stayed by our side throughout the war, feeding us information which usually proved to be true."

"She may have stayed by our side as Neo, but we can't assume she didn't join other factions as anyone but Neo. She could have always been on Salem's side and deceived us and everyone she knew with her illusions."

"Neo would have never stayed by Salem's side by choice. She described Salem as an pit of malice and vengeance she could barely stand to be by." Summer told them of the small fact she learned from her night meeting. "But you're also forgetting what Neo and I both need to be able to create chaos."

The other three members thought about her words, but Bianca beat them to it first.

"People." Summer nodded her head in confirmation.

"Neo didn't simply fall back to killing and chaos. Without Ozpin to guide humanity's continued existence, Neo took over his job, performing it the only way she could. Staying at Salem's side would do nothing but eradicate us and leave her with nothing to play with."

Another silence covered them as all of them tried to rationalise the Neo they knew with the plausible theory they created. For an entirely selfish reason of lacking people to entertain her and kill, and possibly for whatever respect she held for Ozpin, she had helped them.

Ozpin may not be the most insignificant piece on the board, but his influence had greatly altered the path of another. Forging a relationship with a psychopath had created a misguided sense of right and wrong in Neo and for that, Kara, Bianca and Nova would be eternally grateful.

Dealing with one psychopath was hard enough, but two of them was nearly impossible. Add in a war and the management of elite forces, and cracks start to emerge in the realms of possibility.

"That's how we get her to cooperate with us? A theory her morals aren't more screwed up than Summer's, and an aged Headmaster to reign her in?" Bianca summarised for them. "We've worked on lesser odds before."

"Killing her is the last objective on my mind. I will not kill her and will never attempt to." Summer defended. "I'm not even sure if I could, and if we did fight, then we'd level tens of districts."

"I wasn't going to suggest it." Bianca placated and Kara placed a soothing arm onto Summer. "She's too valuable to dismiss as an ally, but too much of a wildcard to properly read her off of two meetings. We need to meet her as a team and discuss."

"She'll be around Beacon." Summer reminded. "All we have to do is find her."

"Do we have any guarantee when she'll be on Beacon?" Nova asked.

"She said she'd drop by for a chat or spar." Summer responded. "I'll get a message from Neo asking for her to play or from Ozpin asking for help asking to help find her."

" _Do you believe she'll react violently to being exposed?"_

"Hopefully." Summer's face betrayed nothing, but Kara could feel the urge to test herself against her elder, a rolling maelstrom of restrained annihilation eager destroy the other.

Bianca was already planning how to contain the friendly spar the two would get into. Her glyphs would handle the worst of any fallout from them, but she'd need Nova if they ever decided to turn any of their attacks onto her barriers.

"Try to not destroy this place." Bianca couldn't do anything to stop it from happening, but she would do anything she could to mitigate the damages. Nova would of course help where she could and Kara would calm Summer down after she beat Neo, or Ozpin would calm down Neo after she beat Summer.

"Get dressed." Summer couldn't promise anything once her mask fell. Summer and Kara stripped from their previous day's clothing and replaced them with more apt workout clothes, donning sports bras or shirts, and shorts in their respective colours.

" _Summer."_ Kara interrupted her from leaving the room. " _Your scars are visible."_

Lengthy and thin scars marred her arms and shoulders, crisscrossing from muscle to muscle and rippling with each movement she made. They further extended across her trapezius, moulding into burns stretching across her entire back. Lichtenberg figures spanned across her midsection, branding red lines across her abdomen.

On the middle of her left shoulder blade sat a copy of Kara's tattoo, charred brown and raised off the flesh, a mark of degradation from her captors. They had torn flesh from her, whipped her repeatedly, waterboarded her, and strangled her; the marks of which she hid with Kara's bow. They did everything they could to mutilate her body except for her face.

They liked her pretty face and refused to harm it, loving the look of defiance on her face as they repeatedly used her body for their depraved purposes. If Kara was a kinder person, she would have let her die in that cell.

"Yes?" Summer rested Crescent Rose on her shoulder. She saw no problem exposing them. While a lesser being may have hidden them away as a sign of weakness, Summer wore them as armour, letting the world see what she endured for her people.

"I know you're fine showing them off, but Ruby might not want to see a scarred visage of her future." Nova explained as she got Summer's usual blank stare in return. "Which most people don't want to see."

"I'm not covering them up. Ruby will be curious and I'll tell her how I got these scars." Summer replied, unphased to keeping Ruby innocent about her life. "She can stare all she wants."

"You're going to tell a sixteen year old that you were tortured, for six months?" Bianca dictated slowly. "Bad Summer."

"Why?" Summer spun her grenades in her hand.

" _Because good people don't scar their younger selves."_

"I'm about to toss a military flashbang used to blind and deafen combatants into two teams' room as a wake up call, and none of you are going to stop me." Summer explained. "Here's how it's going to go. I'm going to toss one into Team RWBY's room and Nova will toss one into Team JNPR's."

She still slipped on a red shirt over her sports bra, heeding the words of wisdom from her family. Kara tied a tight knot around her shoulder with Gambol's ribbon, hiding her controversial tattoo from any judgemental eyes.

"You don't have to hide the tattoo." Summer added. "You and Bianca will be helping General Ironwood and Headmaster Ozpin with the incident." Summer ripped off the silver moon emblem and handed it over to Bianca. "You have my leave to act in my stead."

Bianca accepted the badge without question, affixing it to her top. She knew Summer couldn't be in multiple places at once, but the High Commander had to be. It also separated Kara and Bianca from the eyes of Team RWBY and Team JNPR, allowing Summer to manage both teams easier without the distraction of two more members.

She also wasn't going to complain at having to spend time with James, and Kara would be instrumental in stepping around the delicate balance set in the conflict between the White Fang and the Hunters.

"Yes sir." Summer dismissed them with a nod of her head. The duo left through the window, bounding off a glyph, and sprinted towards the tower.

"Ready?" Summer tossed one of the flashbangs to Nova as she made her way out the door and walked the short distance to their targets' rooms, swinging Crescent Rose around her finger idly, leaving Nova to carry the tray of food.

Nova jogged the distance and caught up as Summer placed her scroll against Team RWBY's scanner and ran one of Kara's algorithms, breaking the code within seconds, a muted green flash indicating its success. She removed her own scroll from her pouch and ran it on Team JNPR's door, giving her sister a thumbs up as it succeeded.

Summer gently turned the knob of her door and pushed it forward, well oiled hinges preventing any squeaking. Pulling the pin, she rolled the grenade into the center of the room and waited, clamping her ears and eyes shut.

Nova opted for a more violent approach, kicking open the door and throwing the flashbang in with abandon.

Shrieks of surprise and pain emanated from both rooms as the teenagers within struggled to deal with a violent bang tearing them from their dreams. The initial slam of a door opening would wake the Hunters, but the following flash and piercing noise would shake sleep off faster than a cold shower.

Ruby managed to be the first to stumble from her room, small trails of smoke escaping into the hallway, hands furiously rubbing away the bright image seared into her photoreceptors. She blinked away the light as her receptors regenerated and saw two blurry figures standing in front of her.

"What was that?" Ruby rotated her eyes around in an effort to bring her vision back. Once it came back, she continued to blink and blink away in an effort to wipe the image.

"Mom?" Ruby looked up into Summer's silver eye, recognizing the familiar face and hair from foggy memories from her childhood. She ignored the void in place of an eye and rushed forward, leaping up and wrapping her arms around Summer, tears leaking down her cheeks.

Nova stiffened as Ruby collided with Summer, unsure of how she'd react to unknown contact. Thankfully, Summer had slipped into her passive neutral state. Enough contact with Kara kicked her muscle memories into drive and she returned the hug.

"Hello little Rose." Summer rumbled deeply into Ruby's ear. The girl grabbed tighter onto Summer, happy her mother wasn't gone, even if the logical part of her brain told her otherwise. Summer threaded her fingers through Ruby's hair, calming her down. "I'm not your mother."

"Hm?" Ruby wiped her tears away and looked up to Summer. Like Qrow, Ruby had made the same mistake of seeing what she wanted to see and not what was real. The same eye colour, the same facial structure, the same hair, but altogether, Summer was her mother's antithesis.

Yang stumbled out of the room, shaken from her wake up call, but even more alert when she noticed her sister hanging onto Summer.

"Mom?" Yang grabbed the door frame as she tugged on her earlobes to clear the ringing in her ears.

Summer's response was cut off as Nora crawled out of her room, exaggeratedly coughing and rolling to show her displeasure.

"Who was the idiot who decided to wake us up like that?" Nora looked up towards Nova, mistaking her for Yang. "Yang, how could you! I was dreaming about pancakes."

"You can have pancakes later." Nova offered a smoothie and bar to her. "These will have to do for the morning."

"Thank youuuuuuu-?" Nora took notice of the two identical Yangs standing in front of her and the mess of red tangled with red on the ground. "Future?"

Nova was barely able to nod before Nora disappeared back into her room cackling madly, screaming unintelligibly along the lines of her being correct, awakened fully by the realization. Similar shouts echoed from the room, this time of shock as Nora further awakened her teammates.

"Hello mini-me." Nova spun around to face Yang. "Breakfast?"

Yang accepted the offered food, chugging the smoothie down with impunity, sneaking in a thanks between gulps.

"So...mom?" Yang looked down at Summer and Rose as the former tried to explain she wasn't the latter's mother; only that she looked like her and shared the same name.

"But can I call you mom?" Ruby insisted, refusing to release the death grip she had on Summer's shirt. Summer looked up to Nova, lost, unable to decide how she should handle her request.

"I'm sure Summer won't mind." Nova pulled the girl from her leader. "Though it might be a little weird when Tai shows up later today."

"Dad's coming?" Ruby and Yang replied before the empty shell of the spent flashbang collided with Yang and clattered onto floor. "Ow."

"Do you know how loud that bang was?" Blake stormed out into the hallway, rounding on her partner, oblivious to the paradoxical twins next to her. Weiss walked out behind her, already dressed somewhat for the day. "I will hurt you."

"It wasn't me." Yang defended, pointing to her counterpart. "She did it."

"I'm not going to survive long with both of you here." Blake rubbed the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "Why?"

"Technically, Summer was the one to throw the flashbang into your room." Nova offered the next round of shakes and granola to them. "And to wake you up of course."

"And you couldn't knock like a normal person?" Weiss arched an eyebrow at the older Ruby.

"Normal is overrated." Nova held back an internal flinch. This wasn't her normal voice, but the one she modulated to appear normal by society's means. "Now get dressed and ready for training."

Summer held Ruby back from dashing back into her room in a frenzy of excitement by her cloak's hood.

"For now, you will call me Summer, but if you're uncomfortable calling me so, then call me Rose." Summer released the girl and grabbed her breakfast and handed it over. "Breakfast. Eat."

Ruby snagged her breakfast and disappeared into her room without as much as a thank you, nearly tripping over a disoriented Zwei. The dog looked at the weird ensemble of people in the hallway, finding the double scents and images of its masters confusing.

"You three should also get ready." Summer padded over to Zwei and knelt next to him, letting him sniff her hand. "You don't want a hyperactive Ruby on your case."

The trio briefly fought over door space as they all collided in a helpless mass of limbs as they tried to enter their room.

Poor Zwei didn't know what to think of Summer and Nova. While Nova looked and smelt like Yang, he was smart enough to realize Yang didn't have a twin. Summer completely threw him. She radiated nothing, but smelled and look liked Ruby, who usually radiated bubbly happiness. He whined pitifully at her.

"I know buddy. I know." She waggled his ears, causing him to wag his tail in satisfaction. "Kara even likes you so it'll get more confusing."

A clamour behind her caused her to stand and about face, taking in the disorganized array of Team JNPR as Jaune presented them for inspection.

"I told you I was right." Nora presented her findings to her team, which look much less impressive than it should have. Summer and Nova stood in the hallways with Zwei tumbling between their feet as usual.

"This proves nothing Nora. Can I go back to sleep?" Jaune stretched, cracking her back.

"No." Summer's chilling voice answered for her, momentarily dropping its modulation to instill attention into the team. "We've woken you and Team RWBY for team training. Return to your room and get dressed and equipped for the day. Nikos, stay behind."

Team JNPR rushed back into their room, unwilling to contest the oppressive aura this Ruby look alike slammed into them. Pyrrha stood alone, heavily favoring her left leg. Summer would have to smack Jaune with the code of conduct manual for leaving Pyrrha alone to face a supposed superior. She fell under his command and thus was his responsibility.

"I understand you have an injury, but also understand so do two members of Team RWBY. Training will be modified to fit yours and theirs needs, but your effort is to be expected." Pyrrha nodded gravely. "Rely on your teammates if you struggle. Dismissed."

Less than a minute later, Team RWBY and Team JNPR stood across from one another, facing Nova and Summer.

"As you may have guessed already, I'm not Ruby Rose. My name is Summer Rose and as of approximately 0300 this morning, I am your commanding officer." Summer held up her hand to prevent the onslaught of questions. "I will answer all your questions as soon as we arrive at Arena Six. Move out."

Another second passed as the teams exchanged nervous glances before another movement order was barked out. They ran down the corridor, equipment clanking and footsteps echoing among the empty hallways.

Summer and Nova observed them carefully, watching in amusement as they completely failed the initial objective of the exercise. Ruby and Zwei sprinted at the head of the pack, Ruby helped by her Semblance and Zwei by the vast amounts of Aura funneled into him at a younger age.

Behind them ran the rest of the pack in no discernible formation.

Lagging behind them all ran the injured members. Yang struggled to deal with her issues of balance while Blake and Yang winced at every step they took, bolstering their injuries with their Aura.

It was a wonder how either of their counterparts reached even A-rank.

When both teams arrived at the stadium, they looked around to find Summer and Nova.

"You failed." Summer and Nova landed in between the teams without a sound. "20 push-ups for everyone except for Rose and Arc. You're both doing 30."

Sounds of protest began to make their way to their ears until the threat of doubling the punishment reached theirs in return.

"Why?" Ruby voiced her complaint after she completed her set. "Were we not fast enough?"

"Your speed had nothing to do with it. It was your severe lack of coordination and spatial awareness towards your teammates which got you your punishments."

"You completely disregarded team form as you moved through an environment. You had one single leader running forward with her pet while three other members lagged behind due to injuries. Not only was this not spotted by your teammates, but it went unnoticed by your team leaders."

"Furthermore, none of the three injured made efforts to call out towards their team leaders, preferring to shoulder their burdens by themselves. While this is perfectly fine during critical or solo missions, you have a responsibility to voice your concerns, of which your leader will then decide your course of action."

"You are a team. You succeed as a team together and fail even if one of you fails. Learn to act like one." Nova's last words caused them all to look down in shame at their failure. "You're both first year teams. We don't expect the most out of you, but we do expect competency."

"Now that you know some of the standards we expect of you, relax. You may ask questions while we stretch and then I'll go over the regime you'll be going through for the summer." Summer sat down on the ground, crossing her legs. Everyone else followed suit. "Ruby will get the first question and we'll go clockwise."

Everyone turned to Ruby, wondering what her first question would be. The girl squirmed under the attention.

"Where is your cloak?" Ruby gripped hers like a security blanket, basking in the warmth as it chased away the morning cold. The sunrise hadn't crested the top of the arena, leaving them drenched in the morning dusk.

"It got torn to ribbons on a mission and I've never worn it since." How fate seems to guide its champions; how destiny moulded the world around them. All because of a gift from her mother more than a decade previous.

"You didn't get it fixed?" The Dust infused cloth was notoriously easy to repair. A simple infusion of Dust and Aura and the cloak would look freshly fabricated.

"My cloak nearly got me killed. I stopped wearing it and had Nova burn it." Summer looked deceptively small and dark without her cloak. Ruby on the other hand sat in a pool of bright crimson. "I would suggest you stop wearing it and store it somewhere safe before it nearly kills you as well."

"But it's mom's gift." Ruby stretched the material around herself, hiding within the red, a mop of deep red hair and pale skin was the only indication there was a body hiding underneath it.

"Then I suggest you cherish the gift instead of letting it get destroyed by accident." Nova added softly. That cloak had gouged the stability of their team immensely and sent them into desperation as they searched for Summer, refusing to believe she was dead.

Bianca had stepped up to the plate and filled Summer's role, surprising everyone as she managed their forces, organized search parties and dictated the pace of the war, all the while maintaining a facade of an impenetrable figure, hiding the depths of mental strain and traumatic stress.

"Yang, you're up." Zwei jumped over Ruby and nuzzled into Yang's side as he followed Summer's questioning order.

"Woo! Nova told me on our trip she couldn't properly describe you, calling you a walking contradiction." Summer stared at her blankly, waiting for the question. "Why?"

"Nova shouldn't have told you that." Summer proceeded cautiously, wondering how she'd dig herself out of the hole her sister put her in. "I thank her for her kindness in not putting me on the spot, but I'm no different from Ruby."

"So the war Nova told me about didn't affect you at all?" Yang played her hand, looking at a shrugging Nova, understanding it was meant as indifference. If she wanted to know, she'd let her pry.

"War?" Everyone snapped their heads to look at Yang, wondering how she knew something they didn't.

"Yes. War changed all of us. We're nothing more than a byproduct of it." Summer confirmed their questions.

"But you're still Ruby. Aren't you?" Weiss prodded, unable to imagine what war could have done to her leader.

"I'm not sure if I remember how I was before the war started." Summer admitted, avoiding the question. "But don't worry about it. There won't be a war if we get our way this time."

"How did the war start?" Blake asked, a sudden feeling of dread setting into her stomach.

"It started two days ago, when the White Fang tore Beacon apart." Blake released a breathy noise of disbelief, her ears flattening themselves against her hair, almost indistinguishable. "You are not them Blake, stop blaming yourself."

"What changed?" Pyrrha continued the line of questioning. "Obviously the White Fang didn't succeed this time around. Is that why you came back?"

"Yes. The initial attack destroyed the CCTS tower and killed around two hundred Hunters, including the Headmaster and the Fall Maiden."

"Me." Everyone turned to face her. "You came back to save me. That's how you knew I was in the tower."

"I watched you die in my time and I wasn't going to let you die again." Summer explained. "Your death gave Cinder complete control of a Maiden's power, a power we could not let her have to exploit in this time."

"Thank you." Pyrrha finally took the chance to thank her rescuers. "I assume I wasn't the sole reason you jumped in time then?"

"No. While you're important, the Headmaster and the tower took precedent. You happened to be at the right place at the right time." Summer replied coldly, making Atlas' winter seem warm in comparison. "Which is the reason why both Bianca and Kara are with General Ironwood right now."

"Who?" Team JNPR hooted in sync.

"Bianca is Weiss and Kara is Blake." Nova replied succinctly. "Can anyone tell me what happens when Atlesian mechs and droids are used to attack Vale and then neither country can open communications with the other?"

The question hung in the air as they began to imagine the fallout between the two superpowers of Remnant.

"Why would the White Fang instigate a war between the two? What do they gain?" Blake didn't even notice as Zwei nudged her with his nose, begging for scratches.

"What they gained was a smokescreen to begin undermining the councils of Mistral and Vacuo to begin pushing equal rights for Faunus through."

"So they were going to let Atlas and Vale duke it out while they brought equality into Vacuo and Mistral?" Blake frowned. "Let me guess what came next. After Vale and Atlas suitably weakened themselves, the White Fang would stage a coup and implement a fair and equal government."

"Noble cause and I'd agree with them if they decided to do so non-violently." Summer stated her honest opinion. "If this was all they planned, then we'd have let Vale and Atlas slug it out until the White Fang succeeded. We'd simply play the fields and work with General Ironwood to minimise collateral damage."

"You'd let hundreds of thousands of people die, simply because you wanted to accelerate giving Faunus equal rights?" Blake stared at her aghast. "You're no better than the White Fang!"

"You're right." Summer took the accusation in stride. "What the White Fang couldn't prevent was both Mistral and Vacuo joining in on the war, seeking out greater power and status."

"The Second Great War would have been even more devastating than the first if it wasn't for the Hunter Pact of Cassus, signed by each nation's Hunter Commander. Under the guidelines set, the Hunters would force their respective city-states into a state of cold war."

"How?" Pyrrha and Weiss immediately tackled the vague answer. "Vale's Hunters aren't even a quarter of a percentage of Vale's standing army." Pyrrha nodded along to the facts, knowing the same could be said about Mistral's forces.

"By forcing them to fight us instead of one another." Nova finished for her. "Under the Pact, every Hunter faction broke away from the military core and sealed the main airfields, ports and land routes. If any forces made it through the blockades, then we'd be required to kill them."

"So instead of committing murder, you committed treason and murder." Blake stared at them in horror. "I was wrong. You're worse than the White Fang. At what point did you stop being a Hunter and become a murderer?"

"I've committed genocide in the name of peace and I would do it again to prevent it all." Summer stared her down, amber disappearing into her abyss. "Did you think being a Hunter was all glory and fame? Do you actually know what it means to be a Hunter?"

She posed this question to them all. While Professor Oobleck may have posed a similar question to them before, this question asked them what they believed their jobs to be.

"We're supposed to protect people from Grimm." Ruby chimed in, her fair skin nearly matching Weiss' as she struggled to deal with her older self casually dealing in death. "But how can killing your own people be protecting them?"

"War gets confusing Ruby. Every Hunter realized we didn't have the numbers to fight a war on multiple fronts, so we took the path of action yet inaction. We didn't want to see our nation's slaughter each other in a pointless conflict, so we stayed to the side and prevented conflicts. They eventually learned we were to be taken seriously, but we weren't perfect."

"The Hunters were originally created to deal with Grimm, but that doesn't mean we can avoid human conflict because it's not our job. We have a duty to humanity, and if that means we have to take morally grey actions, then so be it."

"I can only assume since you decided to time travel, you lost the war." The calm voice of Lie Ren washed over them. "It would explain why you're here and not there."

"We did." They could feel regret drip from Nova. "Vacuo was destroyed first, then Atlas, and we made the jump directly after we saw Vale burn. There wasn't much sense staying when there wasn't anything left to stand on."

"Can you imagine how much fear a cold war can generate?" Summer supplied. "Then try to imagine the Grimm such fear can create. That was our mistake, and by the time we realized what we had created, it was far, far too late."

Silence descended then as the sun peaked above them, blasting them with waves of heat.

"I believe Blake has the next question." Summer prompted. They had long ago finished their stretches, but questions were easier to answer while sitting and not training.

"Where is Kara now and how can she possibly support your actions?"

"Kara and Bianca are both with General Ironwood, helping to prevent such a war from happening in the first place. While Beacon wasn't hit as hard as it was in our timeline, there were still several civilian injuries caused by Atlesian property. Kara is with them trying to minimise the collateral the White Fang will take. She's trying to take the diplomatic approach with them this time."

"You make Summer out to have a dictatorship on our team. Everyone has an equal vote on actions we take as a team, and if Kara has any reservations, she is always allowed to voice them. You think she liked the actions we took? None of us did, but we all understood what needed to be done. War isn't pretty."

"The ends justify the means, don't they?" Blake scoffed at them. "Adam once told me the same."

"Do you know what he did as he lay dying in Kara's arms?" Summer's question stopped her short, causing her to shake her head. "He cried and asked for forgiveness from her. Not because he regretted turning the White Fang to violence, but because he regretted he'd alienated you and wouldn't be there to see you succeed."

"His actions weren't wrong in his eyes. He truly believed he was in the right because he believed this was the only way the Faunus could ever be seen as equals. Does this make him a terrorist? Yes. But does that make him less of a human, for wanting better for his people? No."

"What would you have had us do Blake?" There wasn't a correct answer to this question, and much as they would have loved to deal with absolutes, the world was nothing but shades of grey. "Would you rather we fight three city-states, including their Hunters, or would you rather we do nothing?"

"I don't-. I can't-."

"Which is why Kara is busy trying to prevent many more needless deaths. Weiss, you're up."

"What happened to your eye?" Weiss idly scratched Zwei head as he jumped into her lap, watching his two new masters carefully.

"I was wondering when someone would notice. Ozpin says it's one of my most defining traits." Summer played with the mechashift of her weapon, testing for any wear and tear in the precision milled parts. "My eye is a recent development. I'm not used to being blind on my right side."

"You can't see?" Ruby's eyes never left the upgraded version of her weapon, tracing out the familiar contours. She tore her gaze from it and looked Summer in the eye, flinching at the lack of silver staring back at her.

"Just because I can't see doesn't mean I don't know Jaune's fawning over Pyrrha behind me." True to her word, the team leader was looking at his partner with love struck eyes. "Or that Nora is subtly moving to cuddle up to Ren, and then subsequently beg him to make pancakes for her."

Nora jumped away from Ren as if electrified, staring sheepishly back at the crimson Huntress.

"Anyone who knows Nora knows that." Jaune rebutted, ignoring her earlier statement. Summer sighed.

"Yes, I can't see and I'm not used to it. That's all you'll get from me about it so move on." Summer stared Weiss down, daring her to press forward. "Ren, you get the next question."

"What happens to my team in your future? How do we deal without Pyrrha?"

"You continue as a team of your stature should. You each cried and consoled one another until the Commander kicked you out into the field. Jaune refused to take on a replacement for the team and you continued to operate as a three man cell until your death about two years from today. Jaune and Nora survive Vale's fall." Nova recited from memory.

Ren pondered their fate before nodding at her, accepting his counterpart's demise. If what Summer told him was true, then there would be no point in asking how it happened, just that they were working to prevent a larger scaled conflict.

Seeing him nod, Zwei jumped over to Nora, making the short leap on his stubby legs and burrowing into her lap. Summer gestured for her to ask her question.

"When do we meet Kara and Bianca?" There wasn't really any questions she needed answered. Their future wouldn't be theirs, but she was still interested in who booped who. She just had enough tact to not ask the question out loud.

"Breakfast." Summer sent off a quick message and received a reply, confirming they'd drag the General with them. "Yes, they'll join us."

"How do I deal with Pyrrha's death?" Jaune jumped in with his query. Pyrrha slide her hand over his, gripping it in a gesture of comfort.

"You wore her red sash and vowed to get revenge." Summer looked at the two dispassionately. It was hard watching Jaune descend into madness the first time. He didn't need to know anymore. "But you eventually move on. Nora hit you a little too hard with Magnhild."

"Good to know I don't change much." Nora caressed her weapon. The grenade propelled hammer looked especially menacing knowing she'd use it on her teammate. "Did I generally keep my teammates in line?"

"I think anyone with a large enough hammer and an itchy trigger finger could keep us in line." Ren slyly shuffled away from Nora, more than privy to her tendencies of landscaping. He usually resorted to his Semblance to deal with her.

His efforts were in vain as Nora dragged him back to her and forced him to endure her presence. Everyone released light chuckles at his misfortune, even if they suspected he enjoyed the manhandling.

"Every team has their Nora. We happen to have Nova." Nova released a blast of fire as she slammed her fists together, scorching everyone with minuscule licks of flame. "They're there to get us moving in the worst of times. Don't be afraid to use your hammer Nora. The boys should be able to take a few hits."

Jaune and Ren looked at Summer and Nora in horror as the former gave the latter carte blanche to motivate them.

"Pyrrha, you have the last question before we proceed with training." Nova spun around on her spot on the floor to face her.

"I was actually going to ask what you planned for our training?" She thought the question may have been a waste but she didn't have much to ask about her future. She was dead and she already knew how it'd have happened if Bianca and Summer hadn't saved her.

"Glad you asked. We won't be working with your team as closely as we'll be working with Team RWBY. We may know your fighting styles but we're not experts on your Semblances. We can give prompts but Semblances are usually highly personal intricate operations only the user can understand. You'll be on your own for that. What we'll work with you however is team dynamics; how to effectively operate as a squad."

"Your mornings will be comprised of group stretching following by a run anywhere from two clicks to ten clicks. After it, you'll all participate in a team or two on two sparring match with a random team member after which you'll criticize yourself and each other. The second part of your morning training will be explained after breakfast."

"Now get up. We have a run to complete." Summer quieted Pyrrha's concerns about her injury. "Since we're beginning, you'll only be running three clicks and because both Pyrrha and Blake happen to have injuries prohibiting them from running with their Aura, someone in each team will be required to carry her."

Pyrrha blushed at forcing her teammates to have to carry here. Jaune, being her partner, immediately volunteered.

"The person carrying the injured team member will switch off to another team member after the first kilometer and so on after the second. Easy enough?"

Everyone agreed to the terms, understanding it was nothing more than training for a similar real life situation. They at least could bolster themselves through their Aura to help carry the load, at least they thought they did.

"Now everyone except for Summer, Pyrrha and Blake please grab onto me." Nova beckoned them forwarded, allowing them to swarm around her, letting them place a hand onto her.

In one unremarkable moment, just over a full second, she tore most of their Aura from their bodies and filtered it into her own, her Semblance taking the cost from her own. Even from six fully rested people, her reserves barely edged over a quarter full.

They all staggered at the impossibly quick feeling of losing their Aura, gasping as they felt themselves drop to a critical point of survival.

"One more note. You'll be doing this exercise without your Aura." Nova gave them a cheeky smile before moving to stand by Summer's side. The two younger Hunters spared the process stared at her in confusion. "You'll get your Aura back if you succeed in the task."

"You took their Aura away?" Blake and Pyrrha looked at their downed teammates.

"Most of it. I left enough to keep them alive." Nova waited for them to stagger back to standing. It never was the most pleasant sensation to get your Aura forcibly taken from you without warning. She'd be more gentle tomorrow, but for the first time, she had to do it this way to avoid protest. "I have more than enough room to store it. Get up you pansies and learn how to rely on yourself rather than a preternatural force inside of you."

"You couldn't give us a warning?" Yang glared at Nova, angry at the blatant disregard to their safety.

"You're not dead." Summer replied. "That was your warning. Stop whining and stand up straight. You're a Hunter. Whoever is carrying your team's injured, pick her up and follow us out of the Arena."

Summer and Nova began their light jog, causing them to scramble about. Jaune lifted Pyrrha bridal style while Yang slung Blake over her shoulder, keeping her secured with her arm.

They caught up to their two taskmasters as they entered the tunnels.

"We'll be setting the pace for your runs for the first week, but after that period is up, you'll be required to set your own paces depending on team ability." Summer stated, returning to their jog. "As two of you are carrying an injured teammate, this is about the speed you wish to run, providing you're all out of Aura. Jaune, I suggest you switch to carrying Pyrrha over your shoulders."

Jaune reluctantly did so, abandoning the idea of carrying Pyrrha like a princess. Pyrrha climbed onto his shoulders, lying across them on her good hip. His sword secured her other side.

There was little life during these early hours. They could see a few other teams running in the distance but no one else. These were apparently the tryhard teams.

"Your shoulders are stronger than your arms and should always be used whenever they can to transport an injured teammate." Nova lectured before sinking back into silence, focused on her run.

Jaune and Yang agonized over their runs, regretted choosing to carry their teammate, but refused to stop, instinctively feeling an unspoken threat from Summer and the spoken threat of Nova not returning them their Aura.

They felt their kilometer couldn't take any longer as they jogged behind Summer and Nova. Jogging. Not even running properly. Yang mentally cursed whatever caused Ruby to become a sadist in the future. She was sure she was getting off on this.

A sudden stop in their pace nearly caused them to fall over. Their part of carrying the weight was apparently over. Yang released the jostled Blake onto the ground, letting her stretch her legs and inspect her injury.

Nothing seemed out of place. She'd been sending Aura to the spot to facilitate cell growth and prevent tearing from her journey. She thanked her partner and placed a kiss to her hairline, her own ears wiggling in an expression of gratitude.

She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings.

"Did Blake just kiss Yang?" Nora whispered to her team. Summer's keen ears picked up the chatter and moved to silence it.

"Yes Nora." Her voice caused them to flinch in surprise, having not heard the Hunter walk up the them. "I suggest you leave them in peace until you've finished the run or you'll find yourself without your Aura and more running added to your training." She wisely shut up, but her eyes never left the pair she decided were secretly dating.

"Who'll take up the burden next?" Nova's call prompted them to choose the next member. Ruby stepped up to carry Blake, taking her duties as leader seriously and passed Crescent Rose to Yang. Ren motioned Pyrrha to climb onto his back and shoulders, adjusting her until he could balance the weight.

Without prompt, they moved towards their next stretch of the run. Ruby held a deceptive amount of strength in her frame as she shouldered through the weight draped on her shoulders. Blake played her part brilliantly, hanging limply and silent.

Ren's steps barely changed as he followed his team, Pyrrha clinging to his green scrub. Summer's words at the start of their stretches resounded in him. If he failed, then his entire team would fail and none of them would get their Aura back until tomorrow, after a night's sleep.

Ren and Ruby could feel what Jaune and Yang felt as each of their steps drained strength from their limbs, the exponential struggle starting to wear them down. Ruby wasn't glad she decided to wear her cloak for this. While it chased away the morning chill, it trapped her body heat, leaving her overheated.

When Ruby felt her strength about to fail her, Summer and Nova blessedly stop and told them their second kilometer was completed. Ruby limply collapsed onto her knees, letting Blake step onto the ground, who quickly offered her hand to fit her leader up.

"Thank you." Blake smiled down at her, but she could see her words wouldn't be enough for the girl currently pouting at her. Releasing a sigh, she bowed her head and let the girl attack her ears. Pulses of pleasure ran through her spine as her ears screamed their agreement with the light massage Ruby was applying to them.

Feeling she had had enough time with her ears, Blake gripped her wrists and gently pulled them away. She almost let her continue if Nova and Yang hadn't forced a cough to interrupt their moment.

"You're not wearing your bow." Pyrrha couldn't look away from the pair of feline ears resting at the top of Blake's head. This was the first time Team JNPR saw Blake without the bow on, but they hadn't even realized it until Ruby touched them. The black velvet of her ears blended seamlessly with the material of her bow, causing them to mistake the two for the same. "Where is it?"

Blake pointed to Yang's wrist. The black material was wrapped around several times around the forearm with the ends neatly tied in a flat bow clamped underneath Ember Celica.

Nora would have jumped on the revelation as more evidence to their relationship if she didn't feel the cold breath of a reaper dance along her neck and raise goosebumps. She didn't need to turn around to know Summer was watching her, daring her on.

"Kara doesn't wear a bow. My secret would have been revealed anyways." Blake ruffled her hair and ears, letting them feel the freedom her bow stole from them. "You're the first people outside my team who've seen me without it."

"You're going to permanently keep your bow off?" Ren didn't care why she took it off, but she counted as one of his friends and once the accusations and discriminations can flying at her, he'd have to help her.

"At least while on Beacon." Blake watched Summer and Nova, unable to glimpse any disappointment at her decision. While they both understood she needed a push, they could respect her boundaries for now. "I'll see about not wearing it outside of Beacon."

"Questions later." Summer pushed, wanting to finish their run."Weiss and Nora, you're the last to carry a teammate. If you fail, your entire team fails and will be forced to go without Aura for your spars."

Weiss gulped heavily. Blake was a larger person than her. Her diminutive stature wouldn't help her with strength, especially if she wasn't allowed to use her Aura. She briefly wondered if Nora would have any trouble, but she dismissed the idea. Her exuberance wouldn't let her fail.

She started to regret not following Yang for her morning lifts.

Passing Myrtenaster to Yang, she slung Blake onto her shoulders, testing her balance with a few steps forward. Nora handed Magnhild's collapsed form to Ren and easily bent down to lift Pyrrha onto her back. Wielding her hammer had done much to build muscle.

Seeing them adjusted to their burdens, Summer and Nova took off to complete their runs, not even turning around to see if they were following, the threat of their Aura forcing them to follow.

Weiss vowed to beg Yang for her workout schedule as every step forced her to nearly drop to her knees. She could feel how Ruby and Yang had to hold themselves back from helping her but could also feel they believed in her to succeed.

The greatest point of inspiration to complete the run wasn't the reward of her own Aura, but her team's reward of getting their Aura back. If she failed now, then either Yang or Ruby would be forced to carry Blake, making her look weak in comparison or force Blake to finish the jog, having to use her own Aura when she should have been able to rely on Weiss.

Nora pitied the heiress, but knew telling her so would invite her ire, not to mention probably both Summer's and Nova's for interrupting the morning peace surrounding them. Pyrrha wasn't the heaviest person she could have been asked to carry, but she certainly wasn't light or easy to carry. Even she could feel the toll.

Digging into their last reserves and unwilling to be seen as weaker compared to their teammates, they pushed back into Arena. Once Summer and Nova stopped, they gladly released their teammates, sighing in relief as their shoulders relaxed.

"Easy?" Nova asked, immediately receiving glares of contempt in return. Neither her nor Summer carried anything for their runs, making their runs drastically easy, even if they refrained from using Aura. "It wasn't that bad. Stop your whining."

"Says the Hunter who didn't carry over fifty kilo for a kilometer." Weiss' trademark bite ripped into Nova but had no effect.

"Do I hear you voluntarily declining the return of your Aura." Nova spun the tables around. "Why thank you. I'll gladly add it to my stockpile."

"You wouldn't dare." Weiss stepped up Nova. Only now did the size difference strike her. She stood just short of full head shorter than her opponent and she could feel the smugness oozing off Nova from this fact.

"Try me princess." Nova stared down at her quarry, bending down to close the distance with a smirk plastered on her face. Weiss' pride wouldn't let her pull away from the face breaking into her personal space, centimeters away from touching.

Completely missing the point Nova was perfectly comfortable being in a person's personal space, especially if that person resembled her wife to a tee.

"Stop flirting." Summer watched them with amusement. Weiss blinked away confusion before recoiling from the closing in blonde.

"I wasn't flirting!" Weiss flushed bright red, vehemently denying any such action taking place between the two. "Just because Bianca fell for this brute doesn't I'm attracted too."

Yang had a trail of tears falling down her cheeks at Weiss' insincere comments. Nova whispered soothing thoughts, telling her she was too good for her anyways and should focus her attentions on a certain receptive Faunus.

"I hear love in the air~!" Nora twirled over to then, taking full advantage of Summer's warning no longer applying. She landed in between Yang and Nova, leaning her head between theirs. "Spill. Why did Blake kiss you and what did Weiss mean by Bianca falling for Nova?"

"Probably because she's always secretly harbored feelings for me since she met me and accidentally gave me a kiss as a gesture of gratitude without realizing she was surrounded by her friends." Summer felt a light pulse of pain return to her shoulder as Blake hit Yang in the exact same spot. "They deserve to know Blake. They're our friends."

"You came onto me if I remember correctly." Blake responded coolly. "And I, in my heart, found place for such a brute like you."

"I can see your relationship is starting nicely." Summer supplied. "I hope it flourishes as nicely as Bianca's and Nova's."

"So no one is going to say anything about an elder Yang and an elder Weiss getting together?" Jaune asked, his team sharing his curiosity, especially the ever romantic Nora.

"We already knew." Ruby spoke for her team, everyone nodding in agreement. "They explained they were from a different timeline and their actions and ours would not have an effect on one another."

"But still." Nora pressed. "How did Yang and Weiss end up together? They're polar opposites."

"We just did. That's the easiest way to explain it." Nova could see Nora ready to explode with some statement. "It wasn't love at first sight, but it was damn something. You'll see Bianca at breakfast so you'll see how we interact."

"What about you Summer?" Nora asked. Team RWBY also looked to her. They hadn't even thought about her. Summer hefted her scythe onto her shoulder, spinning it along its shaft.

"I'm married to Crescent Rose." It wasn't technically wrong. The weapon had replaced the security the cloak had offered before its destruction and subsequent storage. Kara had to share her affection.

Ruby didn't look too disappointed she hadn't found love, but looked amazed at the upgrades Crescent Rose went through. Summer extended the weapon to her before she even had to ask. Not even her ordeal could change her love and care for her chosen weapon.

She grabbed the weapon and drew out her own, laying them both on the ground. Compared side by side, her weapon seemed several times smaller. Summer's Crescent Rose boasted a longer and thicker shaft along with appropriately scaled mechashift components. They were both identical in colour.

Releasing both weapons, she watched in awe at Summer's weapon eclipsed her own entirely. The blade had been changed to a serrated edge, nastily sharp teeth lining the bottom edge while the mechashift casing was pushed back from the top, allowing more of the gleaming silver to show itself.

A familiar dastardly hook acted as a counterbalance for the weapon and as a secondary close range attack, letting both sides of the scythe be used effectively rather than leave an weak spot.

"Can I borrow it?" Ruby wished to take it apart and examine it to its fullest and see which parts she could add to her own.

"Later on today, but if you don't put her back together exactly as she was before then I'll take yours and scatter it to pieces around the Forever Falls." Ruby didn't doubt the veracity of the threat. She'd probably do the same so even getting Summer's agreement to let her do this was amazing. "And I'll let you fire one shell."

"Thanks mom." Ruby slammed into Summer with a hug, conveniently forgetting Summer hadn't let her call her that yet, pending Kara's consul. Perhaps, acting even friendly with the girl was going to cause problems. She peeled off realizing her mistake, muttering a sheepish apology.

"It's fine." Summer gently ran her fingers through familiar hair. She was reasonably sure Kara wouldn't mind Ruby calling Summer mother. It was the problem of Kara asking Ruby to call her mom which was a challenge. It could screw with how their team functioned. "You can call me 'mom' if you want to."

It was going to be weird meeting with Tai anyways. She might as well toss another wrench in their meeting and secretly hoped Neo would crash it to escalate it further.

"Okay...mom." She tested the word out but found it weird knowing she had permission to actually use it.

"Am I missing something here?" Pyrrha asked the gathered Team RWBY as they watched Ruby interact with Summer.

"Summer looks exactly what Ruby's mother, also called Summer, looked like before her death." Yang supplied the answer. "Ruby was already on track to be Summer's twin, but seeing it in the flesh only cements it."

"Enough sap Summer." Nova would've let the bonding continue if she wasn't sure Summer was very close to breaking from her emotional facade and letting them see the true side of her. She wanted to keep that side of her away from any impressionable minds as long as possible. "Who's ready to fight?"

The two teams snapped to attention and waited to receive their instructions. Ruby reluctantly handed Summer her scythe back. Her own felt measly after seeing what it could become.

"In an effort to forge stronger team bonds, and because you received no warning of this training beforehand, they'll only be one match before breakfast." Nova explained. "Seeing as there are three injured Hunters does put Team JNPR slightly in favor but I expect Team RWBY to give it their best."

"The goal of the exercise is not to win, but to protect your injured teammates. While they can still fight, their fighting capabilities will be hampered. It doesn't matter if you beat the entire other team. If you lose one team member, you lose the match."

"Will you not be fighting today?" Ruby called out to Summer.

"Ozpin has ordered us to avoid fighting and training inside Beacon's grounds." Summer replied. "Once we deem you ready, we'll take you on a hunt and you'll see for yourselves."

"I advise you use your opponent's weakness as they'll be using yours." Summer and Nova had already identified the weak points. Blake couldn't perform her usual acrobatic maneuvers, Yang would be overcompensating for her balance and Pyrrha would be much slower than normal.

Ruby could easily target Pyrrha with her speed or Weiss could create a glyph underneath her to destabilize her. Jaune would be the best suited to protecting her.

Nora would be more than a match for Yang, the brute force of Magnhild would override any shielding Yang threw up.

Ren would handle Blake. Both were martial artists but Ren held advantage over her. He only suffered heavy bruising while Kara suffered a laceration. Any balancing act or tension would interrupt her, causing her to waste Aura to keep herself stable or be forced to deal with the pain.

If Ruby or Weiss were talented enough to occupy both Jaune's and Pyrrha's attention, then the other could help out one of her teammates. While Yang and Blake would fight together under usual circumstances, splitting Ren and Nora apart gave them a better chance over fighting them together.

The only factors in the air for this battle would be their imagination and intelligence. They needed to analyze an opponent team's fighting styles and be able to appropriately react based on their own abilities.

"I almost forgot." Nova jumped from the bleachers in one bound and landed in between the teams, holding her hands out. "Come and get your Aura."

Team RWBY grabbed onto her left side and Team JNPR onto the right. The process of infusing Aura took much longer as several dozen seconds ticked by until finally everyone was back to full. "Now have fun and show us what you can do." Nova returned to her spot next to Summer, observing them.

Ruby and Jaune shared nods before absconding to opposite sides of the battlefield. It was nothing more than a large dirt circle with no discernible markings.

"Once this knife hits the ground, the match is officially started." Summer removed a throwing knife from her leg pouch, casually flipping it by its handle and catching it perfectly. Each team watched for the moment, until Summer missed the handle and the knife embedded itself into the dirt.

Ruby blasted off with a shower of petals and rocketed straight for Nora, deeming her the largest threat in their team. Nora met her scythe with her warhammer, the two clashing in a symphony of steel. The orangette grinned before releasing a grenade to propel her weapon forward, catching Ruby off guard and sending her spiraling into the dirt.

It seemed neither remembered their primary objectives were to protect their teammates as they each prepared to clash again.

Before the other six Hunters could move, a shower of black rose petals appeared behind Pyrrha, causing the girl to instinctually block with Akoúo̱.

"I've noticed you're not carrying Miló." Summer watched her blankly. "Why not?"

"Cinder may have melted through it in our fight up in the tower." Pyrrha replied, ashamed her Xiphos was destroyed.

"Use this until you get Miló repaired." Summer removed one of of the forearm blades strapped underneath her vambraces and handed it over. "Her name is Shadow. Treat her well."

Summer returned back her position next to Nova, pulling back her rose petals, before Pyrrha could thank her for the weapon.

Weiss was kind enough to let the brief exchange happen before running at the Vermillion pair, casting a glyph under them as she prepared to parry Jaune's swing. She mentally thanked Bianca for making her carry the cargo yesterday. Maintaining only one was a breeze.

The sudden loss of traction made Weiss' job easy as she smashed through Jaune's guard and sent him sprawling outside the glyph and into the dirt.

Pyrrha couldn't move for fear of following in her leader's footsteps and instead gripped Myrtenaster with her Semblance. The sudden pressure on her rapier caused her to drop it and Pyrrha's Semblance caused it to rush into Akoúo̱.

Weiss noticed Jaune get back up as Yang and Ren clashed. Ren was too nimble to get hit by her punches, but Yang had enough Aura to spare to tank Ren's bullets and quick slashes. It would be a battle of attrition as Yang tested Ren's acrobatics and Ren tested Yang's reserves.

Weiss sidestepped Jaune's strike and focused on keeping the glyph keeping Pyrrha immobile stable. Brief flickers of power showcased a near break in concentration but she managed to keep the glyph active.

She summoned another glyph onto the palm of her hand and pushed aside another sword strike as she danced around the glyph on the ground. Pyrrha was stuck watching her partner futilely strike at the small princess, unable to land a strike.

Seeing Weiss occupying both Jaune and Pyrrha, Blake rushed off to help her partner finish the fight with Ren. Even with both of them injured, Ren struggled to deal with attacks coming from an experienced duo. Blake covered Yang's missing side while Yang intercepted whatever attacks Ren could launch at her.

Pyrrha watched as Ren dueled two members of Team RWBY and focused on thinking about how to get out of her situation. If Jaune could break Weiss' concentration long enough, she'd be able to escape the trap.

Her plan fell to pieces as Jaune overextended on one of his swings. Weiss ducked under it, the glyph on her palm deflecting it, and positioned herself between Jaune and her glyph.

Jaune understood his folly as Weiss broke his footing and pushed him into the glyph. In an instant, the white of the glyph was replaced with a glowing black, trapping both of them. The white at least gave them a possibility of movement but the black robbed them of it completely. Weiss had them trapped and she knew it.

Pyrrha looked at the rapier attached to her shield. Weiss was more dangerous when lacking a weapon. It forced her to use her mind instead of the blade. She looked over her opponent. Locking them both in a glyph must've taken more concentration than her usual glyphs did as she stood still and watched them.

Nothing on her person was metal unless she counted the thin silver necklace resting in the hollow of her neck and she doubted it would cause her to lose concentration. Another looked revealed a weakness she could exploit.

She grabbed at the tiara keeping Weiss' hair in place. The removal of it caused the heiress' head to move to the side and sent white strands of hair into her face and eyes.

It was enough.

The glyph under their feet dissolved as Weiss raked her hair back with her hand. She had nothing to to tie her hair back with, the white strands dancing freely around her head, obscuring her vision.

Jaune seized the opportunity and rushed forward. Weiss, lacking both a weapon and now a clear view of her opponent, she backpedaled and deflected strike after strike on her person.

Perhaps Bianca had the right idea in cutting her hair down. It was a severe detriment if it became unraveled during a battle. Her only saving grace was that Pyrrha had decided not to move, letting her more easily take on Jaune.

She understood if Pyrrha was to move to attempt to help Nora or Ren, then she'd probably be a detriment as her teammate would need to defend Pyrrha's weaker side and also defend themselves.

Yang and Blake were the exception to this rule as each understood the other would watch out for themselves and watch each other.

Ren slashed at Blake with Stormflower, landing a deep slash against her abdomen. His success lasted only briefly as a fire clone took her place and blasted him back, the original walking away cleanly.

Yang beset on him, dashing above him and made to slam him into the ground if a sudden force on her gauntlet didn't pull her off course. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Pyrrha's eyes trained on her. Even injured, she still helped her team.

Yang didn't know if Pyrrha could manipulate multiple weapons at once with her Semblance. She could only be able to control Ember Celica at this distance or she could be able to control Gambol along with it.

Deciding to err on the side of caution, she dropped her gauntlet and checked her person for anything metal. Finding nothing, she returned to pressuring Ren away from Blake.

She only later realized it was a mistake as it gave Pyrrha control of the only weapon in their skirmish, namely Blake's katana. Said weapon couldn't obey any of it's master's order and Blake was forced to sheathe it.

That only gave Pyrrha greater control over Blake as the metal was now parallel to Blake's body. While she couldn't throw Blake around, she had enough control to influence subtly, altering her paths just enough to give Ren the advantage.

Fed up with Pyrrha dictating the pace of the fight, she removed Gambol and its sheath and tossed it as far away from Pyrrha as she could, leaving her and Yang to wage the fight with fists and Aura against guns and blades. Their fight was in their hands now.

Seeing she could no longer affect Jaune's or Ren's fight, she looked to see Ruby and Nora duking it out. Ruby was utilizing her Semblance to constantly throw off Nora to her position and harass her, but Nora was quick enough with Magnhild to counter every slash sent her way, though she refused to use her rifle against her.

For every three passes Ruby made, Nora made one titanic blow to Ruby, causing her to use more of her Aura to slow down, alter her course, or even stop to avoid a crushing hammer blow.

The polarity user attempted to pull on Ruby's scythe, but Ruby moved too quickly to establish a solid hold, the weight of the weapon tearing it from her grasp. There was little else of potential on Ruby's person for Pyrrha to pull and even if there was, she had doubts she'd be able to grab her.

Focusing back onto Jaune's skirmish with Weiss, she saw neither side gaining the advantage, both locked in a stalemate. While Weiss couldn't attack directly, she could defend with her glyphs, constantly pushing Crocea Mors away from her and causing Jaune to falter in his footing.

She missed the important fact Weiss was slowly leading him towards Nora and Ruby.

As Weiss finished her loop to Ruby, the young leader skimmed Nora in her side, barely sliding past the traveling arc of Magnhild. Slamming her Semblance the other direction, she pulled Nora off of her feet, throwing her forwards towards Weiss.

Jaune took his last step of the fight towards Weiss as she created a line of glyphs away from him. His foot traveled along the line of glyphs and Ren found the time to cringe as Jaune was forced into a split.

With the two team members disoriented and downed near each other, Weiss used the last of her Semblance to lock them to the ground. The glyph wouldn't last long by the state of her reserves, but it gave Ruby enough time to face off against Pyrrha.

The fastest Hunter against a crippled one.

It was over before Pyrrha could blink.

She felt the flat of the scythe slam into her shield and break her guard, causing her to fall to the ground. Ruby leveled her rifle to point at her face.

A loud buzzer sounded around them to signal an end to the fight.

"Team RWBY wins. Congratulations." Summer announced. "We'll discuss your performances at breakfast. I'm sure you're hungry."

Summer and Nova gave them no chance to rest as they left the Arena and proceeded to the canteen, Zwei nipping at their heels. Lifting their downed or trapped friends, they gave chase to the elusive duo, all of their stomachs growling in unison at the thought of food.

* * *

AN: I know it's later than it should be but I'm in Uni. I have other assignments to do and while I do enjoy this more than those, they still need to get done.

I've never seen an Ozpin x Neo story yet, but that doesn't mean it'll happen. It was a spur of the moment idea. There character development bios get updated every time I use them.

Longest chapter so far. The ending may look abrupt because it is, but does tie into Summer's personality. I wanted to get this chapter ended and up as soon as possible.


	7. Seven - Marks

Chapter Seven

* * *

 **Marks**

* * *

 _Team Monochrome_

Bianca opened the door from Ozpin's balcony to see a sight she never got to see in her time.

General James Ironwood, the man she called father, the infallible and steadfast, was repeatedly slamming his head against Ozpin's desk as Winter Schnee watched, bemused, from the monitor.

Ozpin was watching by his bar top, increasingly pouring vodka into his cocoa. He'd apparently started drinking, stealing Qrow's flask from the owner as the latter lazed haphazardly on one of the couches. Glynda dozed on the couch next to him.

Neither of the two awake looked to have gotten an inkling of sleep in the past 36 hours. Qrow had probably wasted himself on running through his numerous contacts throughout Vale, searching for information dealing with the White Fang, a task Kara knew only too well. Glynda had crashed performing administrative and logistical duties for Beacon.

"You two look like shit." Bianca's first statement caused the General to jerk up, a lock of his grey hair sticking straight up, a far cry from his usual composure.

"Who's that?" Winter's voice came from the computer. She could only hear someone else speaking, not see anything as the camera wasn't pointing in Bianca's direction.

"Your sister." James was way too tired to remember if he had told Winter about a duplicate running around. "Ozpin, could you bring me some Armagnac?"

The Headmaster acquiesced, digging into the bottles perched on the counter top before removing a bottle of brown liquid, barely filled past the quarter mark.

"Year 21 BGW good enough for you?" Ozpin poured a good portion of it into the crystal tumbler sitting on his desk, sliding it over.

"You drinking problem aside…" Winter let the General drain a few gulps before continuing, directing her voice to her sister. "How are you Weiss? You ok?"

"Perfectly fine." Bianca took full advantage of the situation, slipping back into her old name, before leaning over James; shoulder and staring directly into the camera. "If you don't count this scratch on my face."

Winter blinked back, thrown for the worst as she looked at her sister.

"What happened to you?" Winter's eyes couldn't leave the menacing scar gouged into Bianca's cheek. It was deep enough to show off her zygomatic bone, a narrow strip of skin separating it and her eye. "Since when have you had that scar? And what did you do to your hair?"

"There may have been a little incident." Bianca responded, moving behind James and leaning over his shoulder. "And I was forced to salvage my hair after it got cut by a White Fang terrorist."

"No female Schnee has ever had her hair cut short above her shoulders, even by accident." Winter recited a creed their mother had instilled into them when they all still lived at the Castle together. She just happened to keep it tightly bound in a bun, but her hair still spiraled down to her shoulder blades.

"Tough. I kind of like it this short. No more annoying hour long drying sessions after a shower." Winter wasn't sure how she was suppose to react to this confident Weiss. "You should do the same."

"We're Schnees. We can't."

"Really? You still consider yourself a Schnee after they made you abdicate your right to inherit to pursue a military career?" Bianca bit back, enjoying the image of a flinching Winter. "I'm lucky they haven't kicked me out yet. They still think they have a hold on me."

"You're willingly going to disinherit yourself?" Winter completed for her. It was nothing new or surprising to her. She'd done the same after all. "Why?"

"Their business and labour practices. You know as well as I do that Faunus Equal Rights bills have been brutally demolished in every city-state because of their lobbying. I won't stand by with them any longer."

"You think I enjoy watching them discriminate against my friends?" Winter sighed, the toils of days evident on her face by the stress lines streaking down her cheeks. "They threatened me with you and never let me return home, all the while making sure I could never influence you."

"They wanted an heiress they could mold properly, I know."

"I kept the name to protect you." Winter continued. "I let them believe they've had their little victory over me."

"Good. Now we can both take on the name Ironwood." James was already massaging his temples, imagining the pain it would be to manage four daughters. At least they were all grown up. "Right, James?"

Bianca pouting at him wasn't helping his resolve either. Not that he could deny her anything in the first place.

"Imagine what their reactions will be when they realise they've alienated another of their children." James wasn't looking forward to the _optional_ summons for Lord Schnee. "Take on my name. Cause havoc. You're both grown woman."

"Thank you sir." Winter inclined her head. "I'll keep the name change quiet until the Schnees find out about Weiss."

"Do you have time to come visit?"

"I wish. I'm going to be stuck in Atlas for at least the next two weeks while I try to sort this out."

"Winter." James added gravely. "I suggest you take anytime you have available to come visit your sister. I'm starting to get too old for this and you've been doing my job for so long and so well. You're ready."

When Winter first received his call a few hours previous, she had expected a series of demands from the Vale council. Whatever Ozpin had done, the Vale council wasn't even angry at Atlas, but angry at the White Fang. This courtesy call was suppose to be nothing more than that; courtesy.

Not a sudden promotion throwing her into the thick of a conflict everyone could smell coming.

"You're giving up?" Winter snarled at him. "Throwing the weight onto me?"

"I have no choice Winter. I'm sorry." James let her vent at him as she called him out with every curse she knew, every threat she could make and even threatened her resignation. Everyone else in the office watched on, too stunned to see Winter lose her composure absolutely.

"Don't do this to me to me." Winter was on the edge of tears. "Don't leave this to me. I'm not ready."

"You've been my student for the last fourteen years. You can do this." James smiled at her before he suddenly looked many decades older than he should have. "You'll do an amazing job once I'm gone."

"Fuck no. If you think you're retiring so easily then you're plain wrong. You'll sit beside me and be my advisor."

"Perfectly fine. As long as I'm avoiding every single form of combat other than verbal sparring." James' arm gave a low moan of protest at a failed link. "I'm not shortening my time left in this world."

"What do you mean?" Winter was suddenly supremely worried.

"I mean I'm dying. I've had these prosthetics for twenty five years, with constant upgrades, and even they can't stave off the stress my biological body must take."

"Organ donations and stem cells can't save you?" Bianca asked, knuckles white as she gripped James' metal shoulder. "Is there nothing we can do?"

"Not at the rate the research is going and the organs fail within less than five years with the stress I'm under. I'm on my third lung and my stomach and intestines are half gone. I can't push myself any further. I'm essentially half a man."

"How long do you have?" Winter's voice wavered.

"Three years at the least. Five at the most. I'm not wasting any more organs on me. I've accepted this would happen to me a long time ago."

"Why now?" Winter wasn't going to accept such a flimsy excuse. "There are enough organs to keep you going for another twenty years."

"Partly because I've been in the military for over thirty years and spent the last ten years leading it. I'm tired Winter." James let her take that in before continuing. "The other reason is because Ozpin stepped down for his successor this morning."

"Who is it?"

"You'll meet her when you visit your sister." James wasn't letting anything go. One last prank on Winter before he enjoyed his retirement. "And that's all you're going to get from me."

"Then I'll be on an airship immediately. Expect me in eight hours. We can talk then." Winter gave no chance for a return statement as she terminated the communications between them.

"She'll be in for quite a surprise." Bianca relaxed her grip on James. "So why are you really retiring?"

"You don't believe me?"

"I knew the James in my dimension was dying and he never once thought about retiring." Bianca drilled into his grey eyes. "He died fighting out in the field, not in a hospital bed."

"Probably because I actually have something to live for now. I have the next three years at least to spend time with four new members of my family." James returned, staring directly back into Bianca's ice blue. "A painless death by morphine is better than my body failing me in the field and costing a few lives."

"I watched you die." Bianca rested against the desk. "I don't know if I'll be able to watch you do it again."

"Everything must die in the end." James stood from his seat and hugged his newest daughter. Bianca couldn't help but look towards the other headmaster. He gently shook his head at her while sipping his drink.

"I know." Bianca squeezed a tear back into her eye and broke the hug. "I assume since Winter disconnected then her business with you is complete, leaving me little to do but plan ahead."

"Vale wasn't too angry at the attack. None of the districts were too affected by the Grimm and the loss of life was minimal. The council agreed to blame the attack on the White Fang and is willing to support our endeavors against them in the future."

"Which will do nothing to forward the cause of the Faunus." Blake frowned at Bianca's summary. "What is Beacon's stance against the White Fang?"

"The council assumes it's hostile but Summer hasn't released a statement confirming it." Ozpin glanced at the emblem attached to Bianca's top. "But one can be released right now."

"Let the council believe we are hostile to the Fang, but they'll be no statement. It'll stop them from throwing the military into the conflict." Bianca took James' place at the desk and logged in with her credentials, overriding her usual rank with Summer's rank. "We'll continue as a reactionary and preventative force to theirs but we're not in active conflict with them, no matter what assigning a High Commander means."

"Are you releasing Summer's position to the Hunters?" Ozpin watched as someone performed his job for him, studying the pattern of thoughts and compiled a list of possible outcomes.

"Not until a state of open conflict is declared. For all intents and purposes, the Hunters will believe you're still their highest superior. Summer should have told Team RWBY and JNPR she's their commanding officer, nothing more." Ozpin nodded along with their plan for now. "In an effort to even prevent a such a state from being declared, I give you Kara's and my latest project."

Bianca positioned the display to face the office and stretched the screen wide. The title card made Ozpin and James pause at it. It simply stated two words. Both of them had an inkling of what it meant.

Ozpin let loose a wide grin before giving a few laughs. Not even he could have predicted or prepared such a plan.

The screen read: 'Project: Redemption'.

* * *

 _Beacon Cafeteria_

"Where are they?" Summer was barely through the door before Ruby launched a question at her. "You said they'd be here."

"Breakfast first. Kara and Bianca later." Summer poked the girl on her forehead, slipping in front of her and walking to the food area. Even in a school of Hunters, there were few teams willing to wake up this early for breakfast on a day off. "Give them a chance to arrive."

Summer had received a message as she'd been watching the two teams spar they had finished finished hashing out a general outline of the project. She vaguely hoped Ozpin would let Bianca keep the badge, but hope was an alien emotion for her.

Keeping this facade was screwing with her more than it should have, but slipping into her usual mindset would make everyone start asking more questions than she would like to handle.

Her team would have to work overtime to prevent psychological damage if she did. Not to her, but to the younger versions they were interacting with. She was a lost case anyways.

The smells of breakfast ceased her thoughts and she focused on bringing enough calories into her body. Eggs, strips of bacon and toast made its way to her plate and she continued to layer more onto it, grabbing a strawberry yogurt to finish it off.

Nova followed in her footsteps, grabbing a similar layout of food but finishing it off with a glass of milk.

It wasn't the food which made then look at the two in wonder. It was the sheer amount they were plating which made them stop.

"You're going to eat that much?" Ruby stared at her own plate, her own portion drastically smaller than Summer's. "Isn't that a bit much?"

"This is only breakfast. There's also a snack in between now and lunch and between lunch and dinner." Ruby followed Summer as she meandered towards the largest table in the hall. There was already ten of them and another potential five coming along.

"And you're not worried around your figure?" Weiss prodded as they all took their seats around the table, Team RWBY sitting across from Summer and Nova and Team JNPR fitting in around them.

"My figure?" Summer was quite unsure about the question. Semantics came to her rescue. "If you're a Hunter and you take your duties seriously then you'll always have a figure."

"The average human consumes around 2200 to 2400 kcal." Nova jumped into to save her sister. "Hunters on the other hand require upwards of 3500 on a regular day and over 5000 when using Aura all day. Do they not teach you this?"

"That may have been a class we slept through." Ruby admitted shyly.

"What if we get fat?" Weiss interrupted.

"You won't get fat. Look at us." Nova gestured to both her and Summer. They were blocks of muscle, Summer a more streamlined version of Nova's bulk, but she was no slouch. "If you eat properly and work out then you too can be as sexy as us."

"That just sounds like a bad infomercial." Blake added and Nova face faulted onto the table.

"You wound me kitten." Nova peeled her face off the table before drinking up her milk quickly. "No milk for you. Bad cat."

Blake's hair stood on end at her patronizing tone and a feral growl would have erupted out in the canteen if Yang hadn't grabbed her hand to calm her down. As if turning a switch, Blake calmed down and sent Yang a small smile.

"Interesting." Summer was watching the two interact, noting much similarities to when her and Kara starting getting romantically involved. While Summer was gracefully quiet about the matter, it wouldn't stop the train that was Nora.

"So, you two dating or what?" Speeding train, meet buffer stop. Commence wreck. Nora's tact would never change. Only Summer could rival the girl but at least she had an excuse. "You kissed her on the forehead, Yang wears your bow, and now you two are holding hands."

Before either of them could answer, Weiss replied, remembering the late night talk she had with Nova and Bianca.

"They'll tell you, if you tell us about your relationship with Ren."

"I have no idea what you mean." Nora chuckled nervously before suddenly brightening and facing Nova. "Who do you end up dating?"

"Summer told you we're from a different timeline." Nova responded neutrally. "I end up marrying Bianca."

"Who is… Weiss." Nora looked between her and Weiss, unable to imagine any circumstance where the two could end up together. "Umm… how?"

"A long story of denial between the two of us. Kinda like how you and Ren like to dance around each other."

"We're not dating." Nora flat out refused and Weiss banged her head into the table. It was nearly exactly how Blake and Yang were without the vocal part. Bianca was right. It was painful watching them.

"Whatever you say lightning bug."

What would have been a comfortable silence between conversations was broken as the entire cafeteria seemed to fall quiet at the main doors opening, making it tremendously awkward. Nova knew it could only mean one thing.

Walking down the main aisle were six of the most important people in Vale and Remnant. Not that anyone knew about the other three, but everyone could easily recognize the silver hair and the cane of their Headmaster and the imposing stride and image of the General of Atlas. If that wasn't enough, Qrow Branwen, the spymaster of the Hunters walked by their side, only known to a few, and walking by his side was Glynda Goodwitch, the dominatrix/deputy of Beacon.

In front of the four walked two women, though smaller in height, who exuded enough threat to keep everyone frozen in their seats. Everyone could easily recognize the classic white hair and ice blue eyes of a Schnee.

But it wasn't her creating the most controversy.

It was the Faunus with a White Fang tattoo, distinctively lacking several teeth and the trademark three claw marks through it, inked into her shoulder walking by her side causing it.

Only their combined sheer presence prevented a riot from breaking out then and there.

"Either leave if you can't stand the sight of her, or mind your own business." Bianca had stopped in the middle of the canteen and declared, not even needing to raise her voice. No one dared to leave. "I thought so."

The party continued onward, ignoring the resounding hum of gossip start around them, finally entering the bar area as the cafeteria resumed it regular sound level.

The table was silent as the group approached, each laden with food as if they hadn't eaten in several days, which may have been the case for the denizens of this dimension. Blake never stopped staring at the indigo tattoo on Kara's shoulder.

Ren shuffled away from Summer's side when Kara indicated she wanted to squeeze in and Pyrrha did the same next to Nova. They barely managed to ingest several bites of food before two questions assaulted them, but Nora beat Blake to hers.

"Are you actually married to Nova?" Nora asked as Bianca finished a piece of bacon.

"Yup." Bianca gave no further indication she actually was, preferring to demolish her full plate, which made Nova and Yang proud. "Married for… about two years."

"I don't believe you." Nora stated. "I think Yang pulled you into this to hide her relationship with Blake."

"It'd be a good idea if you remembered we weren't from the future. Different dimension." Nova responded for Bianca as she polished off her eggs. "They have no reason to hide their relationship. Anyone could see it coming."

"Here, take your money." Qrow slid over his portion of the bet to Opzin, grumbling about all knowing Headmasters. The man collected his spoils and tucked it into his overcoat, thanking Yang and Blake with a nod of his head.

"Hold up. Were you three betting on us?" Blake started.

"Relax kitty." Bianca placated. "Everyone does it. Ozpin was simply lucky enough to choose correctly, unlike Qrow over there."

"I would have won too if it wasn't for you helping disqualify yourselves. You're suppose to help family out Summer, not sabotage it."

"What do you mean by 'disqualifying yourselves'?" Ruby asked.

"One of my bets was hedged on Yang and Weiss ending up together, but apparently, Nova and Bianca don't count towards the rules."

"As if I would ever end up with Yang." Weiss scoffed. It wasn't as if Yang was bad to look at, but the girl was so obviously infatuated with Blake she wouldn't do anything. Though, with her parents out of the picture, she was left with more options. "She was set on Blake the moment she saw her."

"Was I that obvious?" Yang's arm stump imitated her scratching the back of her head.

"In hindsight, it kinda was." Ruby winced as Summer slapped her hand aside as she tried to pilfer her yogurt. "Ow."

"What was the second bet?" Blake stared at the tattoo on Kara's shoulder even though her question was to Qrow.

"That you and Ruby would get together." Qrow answered, aware his bet was completed invalidated unless some tragedy befell the Bumblebee pair. "Summer and Kara don't count either."

Everyone's eyes shifted to the Ladybug pair. Summer took the stares with impunity and Kara was too caught up in her breakfast to care.

"You said you weren't married to anyone, that you were married to Crescent Rose." Ruby pointed out, unsure about how she felt for her own teammate now.

"Yes." The menacing weapon attached to Summer's back hummed with foreboding power. "I also happen to be married to Kara."

"Oh." Ruby blinked, suddenly understanding why Summer was so reticent to her calling her 'mom'. "Does that mean I can call Kara 'mom' too?"

Kara squeezed Summer's thigh, claws penetrating her Aura and piercing skin, drawing thin rivulets of blood. Summer didn't betray anything, relishing in the pain as it triggered endorphins locked away by her troubling ordeals.

"Look at her, Kara. You think you could deny her if she really wanted to call us that?" Summer wasn't appealing to her own sense of feeling, but to Kara's. Though she couldn't deny looking at her younger self didn't trigger scattered memories.

Ruby didn't hesitate to bring her pout to full effect on the black haired woman and Kara couldn't help but be drawn into her silver eyes, so similar yet so different from Summer's, pools of shining radiance.

She reluctantly nodded her head, falling for the obvious persuasion.

"Get Ruby into therapy, Qrow." Summer finished her yogurt. "She's willing to call a complete stranger 'mother'. I know you and Tai tried your best, but Ruby idolized her mother and now sees her in me."

"No." Qrow watched them with his head perched on his hands. "She's your problem now too so you don't get to pawn her off. You'll two will do fine as mother figures for her."

Blake's silent communication held the worst of Summer's glare from affecting their father. She saw it as a chance to experiment before they committed to children.

"Alright." Qrow's eyes narrowed at the easy acceptance, but attributed it to Kara telling Summer something he couldn't decipher.

A short silence descended on them before Blake decided it was time for her question.

"Why did you decide to get that _particular_ tattoo?" Blake directed her inquiry to Kara who sighed and retrieved her scroll from her pouch. She spent a few seconds tapping out a message and slid the scroll over to Blake.

 _I wanted to get a momento from the time the White Fang was a symbol of equality and progress, not the terrorist organization it is now._

"And the reason you can't tell me this?" Kara tilted her head to reveal the thin scar sitting directly over her vocal cords. Blake slid the scroll back. "How?"

 _I slipped._

A single mistake had cost them the mission. A little oil slick, a misplaced step, a flash of a weapon and an inability to finish a clone in time had downed her, causing her team to abandon the objective and weaken the offense.

Qrow's death and Summer's subsequent capture was entirely her fault as her team scrambled to evacuate. She and Nova still had arguments about who screwed up the most that day.

"You slipped?" Blake stared at her counterpart with incredulity scrawled across her features. "You slipped and you lost your voice?"

Kara tilted her head back and forth, not deeming a textual response necessary.

"That's it? Not going to tell me anything else?" Kara's answer wasn't good enough for Blake.

"Whether or not anyone on my team decides to reveal secrets is a personal matter, not an issue of trust." Summer slipped into her normal voice, causing Blake and the table to freeze at the tone. It provided no escape. "Respect we have reasons not to tell you, just as I had reason not to tell you how I lost my eye."

No one was willing to contest her after that.

"What do we do now?" Jaune asked, noticing they were all done with breakfast.

"We rest and then we lift." Summer stated as if it was the most obvious activity to do after breakfast. "I'm not having weaklings for students who need to use their Aura for everything. After that, Team JNPR is free for the day, but is recommended to use the time to really familiarize yourself with one another."

"What about us?" Yang, Blake and Weiss nodded along to Ruby's question.

"Tai is arriving around the same time Winter is arriving from Atlas. I'm sure you'll want to see them." James groaned. He had been watching Bianca and Kara since they entered the tower and they never once touched their scrolls, which meant Summer was proficient in the same mind games Ozpin was. Ozpin chuckled at his misfortune. "Weiss?"

The heiress blinked back, waiting.

"On your scroll, there should be a new attachment. If you wish to continue along the path you, Bianca and Nova talked about last night, then complete the form, of which, most has already been completed by Headmaster Ozpin."

"What about my sister?"

"You sister already knows the plan and will be making adjustments to her own." Ozpin replied for Summer, preventing her from getting more suspicious as to why she was suddenly doing his job for him.

"If that is all, I'll see you the eight of you in the gym on the south-west side of campus in one hour." Summer stood from the table. "Qrow, Glynda, James and Ozpin, you're welcome to join us."

"Pass." Came the simultaneous reply from the four. They were much too tired to do anything involving strenuous activity.

Summer said nothing in reply, activating her Semblance and blanketing her team with it, causing rose petals of four different colours to scatter around them in a brilliant display.

"How did she do that?" Ruby snatched one of the yellow petals, observing it from every angle and noted it was exactly as her own. She grabbed a white, black and a crimson one, comparing them all. "She _has_ to teach me how to do that."

* * *

Summer let her Semblance dissipate as they arrived back in their room, cutting off the stream of petals before they infected it.

"How went the presentation of Operation: Redemption?" Summer asked as Bianca pawned off the silver emblem back to its rightful owner, having taken it off to hide her real role before she entered the canteen.

"Ozpin seemed to be all for it. We briefly argued about the cost to finance such a mission, but Ozpin assured me as long as the council believed us to be taking an active stance against the White Fang, then we'd never run into a problem."

" _No doubt the SDC will funnel more money into Vale when they learn the actions it's taking against the Faunus."_

"Which we'll use to fuel our own political agenda. Tit for tat." Nova concluded, always willing to blow dirty money on their own needs to turn it against others.

" _How many teams do we have to use for this operation?"_

"Potentially around four hundred teams if we can cover the area lost in defense around the border, all of which are at or above B-rank." Bianca recited, having already calculated the number with Ozpin.

"Good. They'll come in handy for the counterterrorism unit." B-rank and above meant they understood the meaning of a black op and a false flag operation. "What about Menagerie?"

" _I can't do anything without Blake and I doubt our father will enjoy throwing his support behind another potential terrorist organization after he was forced out from the last one, but if we can guarantee an incentive then perhaps negotiations will go well."_

"We'll have to convince him. See if we can't arrange a trip to Menagerie. I'm sure Blake would be overjoyed and terrified to see her parents again. The SDC?"

"Neutralized with Winter taking over for James. The same affliction which killed him in our dimension exists in this one and there's nothing we can do for him. He cited your ascension to the office of High Command as reason to promote Winter. She doesn't know about you yet and her arrival at Beacon will give her a chance to do that."

"Weiss?"

"On the path to independence with plans to clear her bank account and completely sever ties with the Schnees, including a name change to Ironwood. There's only one tiny, itty, bitty problem."

Summer gave her the go ahead to speak, wondering why she enjoyed stringing these moments out.

"Weiss and Winter have a brother in this dimension, a Whitley Schnee, born two years after Weiss." Bianca had discretely rummaged around the interwebs for information about the Schnees during her brief stint in the tower. "It ruins our plan for them."

Summer folded her hands and rested her chin on them, thinking about the situation. In their dimension, this _Whitley_ hadn't existed, leaving the Schnees without an heir and a lady already gone through menopause. They had desperately scrambled to bring either Winter or Bianca back into the family, even disregarding the latter's predisposition to Nova. It had let them play the SDC marvelously, using the weakness against them.

With the Schnees having a fallback heir, the scheme for them fell to pieces. They would no longer have control over the family and would have to create a different plan. Winter could corral the military and prevent its use, but held limited power with the council. Her installment would be protested once the Schnees realized what they had done to them and as a recent addition, held less power than usual.

The Schnee coffers would continue to be used to fuel anti-Faunus propaganda, driving more Faunus to the White Fang and not towards Menagerie. They had created lives for themselves in the four city states and would not go quietly. If they couldn't bring them down, their plans were for naught.

They could always do a black flag against the Schnees but it ran the risks of getting caught. The risk was much too high, but with them not having any means to exercise control and pressure, she might have to authorize it.

"We're not killing my brother." Bianca followed Summer's thoughts perfectly, knowing exactly which way she leant when it came to problems. If her team wasn't there to limit her then they would have feared for the future population of Remnant.

Summer said nothing in reply, waiting for Bianca to put forth her idea.

"We can cripple them economically. Rather than annihilating the Schnees as a family, we annihilate their money. We have over three dozen White Fang masks from this invasion and we alone are enough to sabotage their mines and labor camps. We have enough bullheads to carry a few hundred people at a time back to Vale or Menagerie."

"And what happens when the SDC asks for protection from the Atlesian military when they realize they can't defend against us?"

"We'll do what we must." Bianca knew they couldn't attack non-lethally against them as the real White Fang wouldn't leave anyone alive.

"No. We're not putting the lives of the Schnee over the lives of soldiers who did nothing wrong but get assigned to the wrong place at the wrong time." Nova declared. "We need enough masks, bullheads and teams to hit every single camp and mine at once."

" _And what happens when fingers start pointing to who revealed the location of every single mine and camp? They're such a controlled secret only a handful of people know where they are. Weiss and Winter will be under suspicion from the start and we can't risk Winter being forced to resign or even dismissed from her post."_

"Bianca, who knows exactly where each camp is located?"

"The Lord and Lady, the CSO and his secretary. Not even the guards know where the camps are located." Bianca realized exactly where Summer was going with this. "Neo. You think she'll go for it?"

"I can always ask. If we're going to do this, then we need the target replaced as soon as possible. Which one do you want replaced?"

"The CSO, Heinrich Rumsfield."

"Do we have a right to order his assassination?" Nova was worried about the direction they were going. "We're ordering a man's execution because we can't find a way around it. It's a very slippery slope from there."

"Do you see another way around it? You brought up the point of protecting Atlesian lives. How can documents be leaked about the location of these camps without us cleaning up the loose ends?"

"We've grown so used to doing things the violent, the definitive way, the brutal, execution style we usually do." Nova shook her head, letting golden locks spiral around her head. "We've lost who we once were."

" _I assume you have an idea then?"_

"Seduce him and drug him. Simple alcohol with do enough. Can't risk any drug tests returning positive. Once he's under, Neo impersonates him and makes her way into his office and leaks the files pertaining enough information to keep the Schnees' quiet, including the locations and allowing us to further trap the Schnees."

" _I can make a password cracker. The only problem is whether his office is within a Schnee compound or if he has personal files at his home."_

"Let's assume it's a building dedicated to the operations of the SDC. They have keycard readers as a minimum and iris and fingerprints readers at the worst."

"Let's say we ignore Rumsfield for a moment. Why can't we just break in and take the information we need?" Nova pointed out the obvious, wondering why they even needed a fall man for this job. "Could you do it Kara?"

" _No. It's too much security for me. We need Neo and we need someone who knows where the camps are as a scapegoat. I'm sorry."_

"We can lift the keycard and fingerprints, and Neo can replicate the iris. Kara, we need a virus to sweep through the security system and erase any information Rumsfield ever enters his office on the night this happens. We don't want anyone knowing this is happening, not even Winter, until it's over."

"Once it's over, the fingers start flying. Winter and Weiss will, of course, not know anything since we didn't tell them. Lord and Lady Schnee along with Whitley will be in the clear and the only two people left will be under suspicion. Kara, make sure you leave just enough evidence that points to Rumsfield."

Kara nodded an affirmative, already planning how she'd ransack the system through a USB drive. If Winter or Weiss were ever under investigation then a letter would be sent out to Rumsfield, demanding his resignation or the evidence he leaked the files would make its way to Lord Schnee, and no one wanted to face an irate Lord Schnee.

If the real White Fang took credit for it, then they would gain the credit for depriving the Schnee of their slave labor and exploitive practices and leave them in the clear. If they didn't, then it'd be seen as the White Fang trying to hide they possessed the means to perform such an action.

Except the people in the know how, namely the Faunus they rescued would know they weren't the real White Fang and that was all that matters. As long as they could turn the Faunus to their counterterrorism group, then they would win the conflict with the White Fang.

Messing with terrorist groups was fun, especially since they dug themselves into a hole by declaring hostilities against the SDC in the first place.

"Can we get it done in two weeks?" Summer asked her tactician.

"I can have the teams informed by the evening but the problem isn't the teams, it's the sheer amount of Faunus kept in the camps. Each camp contains at a maximum 10,000 Faunus and the practice stretches across 8 camps. That comes to an estimated 80,000 people to move. A bullhead at maximum can carry 20 people, an Airship can carry 525 but has space for 700 and an Atlesian Airship has space for 1000. We don't have enough."

Summer retrieved a notebook from the desk and began to make calculations. At last count, Vale held around 3000 Bullheads, each requiring a pilot meaning they'd need around 750 teams, not the 400 they had, but they could spare a night of half-measured border defense. Between Signal and Beacon they had around 12 Airships and if Atlas could spare 12 of their Airships then they would have just enough with an extra 400 capacity to spare. It left 50 Hunters to assault each camp.

"It can be done if we add an extra 350 teams and ask Winter for 12 Airships." Summer gave Bianca the calculations to make sure she was correct. "The next problem is the amount of people we require. For operational safety, we can't disclose where we're going until the night of, but we can order the 750 teams to be standby and another 50 in case anything pops up."

"The other problem is we need to take the camps without losing any ships and at least one of the ships heading to each camp needs to be equipped with a signal jammer. We'd need to arrive at each camp at around 2200, meaning we need to leave Vale before 1200 the day of. If everything goes right, each camp is subdued in 1 hour and we have the next 6 to load every single Faunus there and retreat back to Vale before anything is noticed."

" _Another problem is where these 80,000 people will go. Beacon can't hold that many and we can't disperse that many people throughout Vale without anyone noticing. They'd have to be evacuated to Menagerie, another item that has to be discussed with Ghira and his council."_

"And if that isn't enough, Winter must also be complicit to this entire operation or we can't get everyone evacuated." Bianca felt a headache start to set in. "She needs to authorize the ships for use from Hunter only airfields and it's a lot of ships she has to move discretely."

"Or James could authorize the mission before he retires and if anything is leaked then he'd take the blame for it and I could protect him. Yet that would undermine his decision to have Winter replace him."

"That's something we need to ask him to do." Bianca concluded. It was a sound plan but it had so many different factors and if one of those factors failed then the entire operation had to be scrapped. "I'll arrange for a meeting with Ghira Belladonna. You get Neo on the op."

"Tomorrow. Give her some time to rest before we start throwing plans around and at her. Today we need to focus on Winter and James' part of the operation. Don't try and do everything at once. I'll send the two week notice at 1600 today."

"Is that everything?" Nova asked. Bianca and Summer's dialogue was sometimes hard to keep up as each threw ideas at each other as fast as sound could travel.

"Yes. It'd rather leave Weiss' independence and Winter's leaving of the family for the aftermath. It would throw the family for the loop, but if Lord Schnee demands Weiss' return early, and I can see him doing so, then both of their plans will have to be enacted immediately." Summer gave her thoughts on the topic and received similar nods of acknowledgement in return.

" _Project: Redemption will officially begin after the operation I assume."_

"You're the lead on Project: Redemption. It's your idea and I'll follow your orders when it comes to it." Summer handed off a part of it to her. Kara didn't know whether to thank her or flip her off, so settled for neither and nodded. "The project needs to be run by a Faunus to give it legitimacy."

Kara understood the need for her to take charge of it, even if only as a figurehead.

"Next order of business is Serenity. We'll be extremely busy and she'll have to sit on the back burner for a while. Nova is the only person available to work on her while we work on our personal assignments."

"Five weeks, minimum, if I'm the only one working on it, which is not including any testing. The frame itself will take me over a two weeks, and let's not even think about the wiring that needs to be done. The engines themselves are going to gut us."

"I'll find you a few Hunter engineers willing to work with you. I don't need her ready for the op, but flying a standard bullhead seems too slow." Summer said, adding another task to her ever growing list. "There is one more thing. The prank, we're not doing it. It's pushing it too far for nothing but a laugh for us. Understood?" Bianca and Nova nodded. "That is everything I can remember we need to go over."

Not one of them noticed Summer had removed her facade for their short meeting and seamlessly place it back on when she left the room. No one except for a black crow perched underneath their windowsill.

A knife impacted into the stone above his head, the Aura coating allowing it to pierce up to the handle. He understood the threat and followed them in the air. Guess he was going to lift after all.

* * *

"Had fun?" Summer brushed back her hair with her hand, resetting it to its natural state after her shower.

She received six stares of contempt in return and two of adoration. It seemed Yang and Nora shared an aptitude for grueling physical exercise.

"Perk up." Summer continued. "You'll be doing this for every other day, forever. You'll fall into the hang of it eventually."

Summer's, Qrow's, Ruby's and Yang's scrolls all lit up simultaneously with an incoming message.

"He's early. Team JNPR, dismissed." Summer said without bothering to remove the scroll from her leg pouch. The aforementioned team shifted around uncertainly, before leaving the group of nine alone, heading back to the dorms. "I'll decide when we show ourselves to Tai. Qrow and Team RWBY, go and greet Tai." Team SKBN left without a trace, leaving the five to proceed onward to the landing pads.

Out in the distance, an Airship was in it's final phases of transitioning to docking at the platforms, its wings rotating down and collapsing to slim its profile, only held up by its multitude of jets on every major axis.

"Race you." Qrow left a large cloud as dust as he rocketed away. Clearing the dust from her lungs, Ruby gave chase.

Weiss, Blake and Yang exchanged glances before chasing after their leader. They arrived at the landing pads as the docking clamps engaged and the doors released. A crowd of people stood waiting for the door to completely lower and at the forefront, stood Tai Xiao-Long, the incarnation of a dragon.

He stalked down the door before it finished lowering and leapt the gap, zeroing on their group of five in a heartbeat. His temper vanished upon seeing Ruby and Yang standing by Qrow's side, but rose up again when he noticed Yang was missing a certain appendage.

"Qrow." Tai greeted neutrally before brightening up and turning to Ruby and Yang. "Not gonna give your dad a hug?"

Qrow watched as the two leapt into his arms. He had missed his chance to be Ruby's father and was now forced to watch her call another man 'father'. If only he hadn't been an immature idiot.

"Is there any chance I can convince you two to come home and never leave again." Ruby got her hair ruffled and pouted. People seemed to love messing with her hair. "You're at least coming home to rest, won't you Yang?"

"Because of this annoying thing?" Yang waved her stump around. Tai nodded. "I'm getting fitted for a new arm tomorrow."

"That quickly?" Tai stared at his daughter blankly. "Two days for a new arm?"

"Monty is very good at what they do." Qrow shrugged nonchalantly. He wasn't quite sure how Yang had managed to get an arm designed and manufactured, but he was sure Nova was in on it.

"I guess I'll stick around for a while. At least until you finished getting used to your arm." Tai turned to the rest of Ruby's team. "And are these your two teammates? Interesting combination. A Schnee and a Faunus."

"I didn't know she was a Faunus until a few weeks into the term. Weiss Schnee, sir." Tai shook her hand.

"Blake Belladonna. I wore a bow to hide my ears."

"Not anymore? I'm not a 'sir. Just call me Tai." Not once did his eyes stray up and stare at her ears.

"Not anymore." Blake repeated, unwilling to give up any information. Tai narrowed his eyes but didn't press it. Everyone was entitled to their secrets.

"Who wants to grab lunch? My treat. Ruby, you can tell me all about your new team."

"There might be a few more people who want to tag along." Qrow segwayed, hoping Team SKBN was listening.

"Wh-" Tai never got to finish his question as four Hunters appeared behind him, the only indication they had appeared being a shift of air. "They're behind me, aren't they?"

"Yup." Ruby started their introduction. "Dad, meet Team SKBN."

Each member of Team SKBN stood opposite from their counterpart in Team RWBY.

"Hello Tai." Summer greeted him, voice as dull as the plains surrounding Mistral.

"Summer?" Tai's eyes stretched to their limits and his mouth hung open. "How?"

Ruby rushed the woman in a lunging tackle but Summer just stepped aside and let the girl fly past.

"Ow." Ruby rubbed the growing bruise on her head. "Let me hug you mom."

Summer stared Ruby down, not willing to receive any more hugs. Kara, on the other hand, was more than willing to give the deprived girl a hug, opening her arms as a gesture for her to get one.

Ruby forgot about her pain and ran forward to give her new mother a hug. Blake watched the two interact, wondering if her own mother would welcome her back after her exodus. With her short hair styled messily, all Kara lacked was a few gold piercings through her ears and she'd be a dead ringer for Kali.

Tai was also watching them in confusion as Ruby hugged Kara. Summer snapped her fingers a few times in front of his face and broke him from his gaze.

"Mom?" Tai repeated Ruby's words. Summer stopped him from jumping to conclusions.

"I'm not your Summer, as much as I may look like her." Summer was well aware who Kara looked similar to and couldn't blame Blake. Kara's parents had locked her in her room and forbidden her from leaving until she promised to visit at least once a month. "I was born Ruby Rose, to Tai Xiao-Long and Summer Rose in the winter of year 66."

Qrow gave a suspicious cough which sounded suspiciously like 'Branwen'. Suspicious.

"And the reason she calls you 'mom'?" Tai watched as Kara pet Ruby's hair, exactly how a mother would have done.

"I gave her the option to call me anything else, but she's Ruby. You know how she is." Ruby disengaged from her hug and rushed Summer again but a hand on her forehead impeded her progress. "She's also taken a liking to calling Kara 'mom' as well."

"And you're suppose to be a weird alternate version of Ruby's team from the future?" Tai looked between the two team standing opposite each other, matching each one to one. "Qrow, I need a drink."

"I ran out." Qrow tipped his flask over, proving his point. "I ran out a long time ago and haven't had the chance to refill."

"At least I can tell the eight of you apart." Tai noted the short hair and facial scars separating the two teams. "Can I get some names?"

"This is Kara, who you may have guess I'm married to. She's a quiet one." Kara waved back politely. "Next to her is Bianca and standing next to her is her wife, Nova, who I'm sure you recognize as Yang with a metal arm."

Tai didn't bat an eye at the four being married to each other.

"And you four are suppose to be alternative duplicates?" Tai reiterated his question. They nodded. "And Ruby roped the two of you into being her moms?"

Another two nods.

"Yup, we're going to a bar and you four get to explain." Tai concluded. "Is Junior still in the business?"

Yang surreptitiously coughed, gaining their attention.

"I may have gotten banned for fighting in there." Yang avoided everyone's eyes. Nova snorted good naturedly, remember why she had been banned from Junior's and Bianca tutted as if expecting it.

"What did you do?" Tai knew Junior from their time in Signal. While he went along to Beacon, Junior left and used his contacts to clear a swatch in the vast criminal underworld for himself.

"I may have beaten up a few of his guards, destroyed his bar, his dance floor and then punched him in the face." Yang listed off the multiple incidents she had had with Junior the last time they met. "Nothing too much."

"You're lucky he didn't press charges Yang." Tai chided. It was probably because he recognized her as his daughter that he didn't and simply forbade her from coming back. "Try not to start a fight this time. C'mon, we can still make the ferry before it leaves."

"I don't do ferries and public transport." Summer replied as they all started moving towards the Airship still docked at the landing pads. "We take a bullhead. Junior's has landing space."

Summer walked off without another word and didn't allow any word in edgewise, forcing everyone to follow her team as they returned back towards the hangars.

Tai observed Team SKBN from a distance, unaware he was being observed in turn. He picked up on how they each handled themselves and how they interacted with one another. Summer was clearly the Hunter in charge, yet she frequently made allowances to Bianca as she walked beside her, altering her gait to either walk alongside her or push her back. Neither seemed to mind the other.

Nova and Kara hovered in the back, with the latter nose deep in a book. She wasn't watching where she was going, trusting Nova to lead her forward and avoid any obstacles as she remained within touching distance of her.

Their gaits betrayed their experience. Each hovered on the balls of their feet, calves ready to spring in any direction at the slightest need. Their eyes never stayed in one place, preferring to take in everything around them all at once.

Team SKBN noticed themselves being watched by Tai. Summer's dominance had cowed Tai and Qrow into following them into a bullhead instead of taking the ferry and having to walk to Junior's. It was amusing having him try to analyze them, yet they stayed true to their usual selves, not altering their physical traits, giving him a chance.

Summer could imagine him piecing it all together, struggling to fit it all together. She slid her scroll against the first hanger service door and thumbed the overhead roof access.

"Who wants to fly?" Summer asked as she stepped onto the craft. She already knew the answer to the question as Kara stepped by her and slammed the cockpit door shut. She instead retrieved her copy of her book and sat against the starboard door, flicking it open to a dog-eared page.

Nova filed into place next to Summer and Bianca sat next to her. Bianca pulled out her book and followed suit to Summer as Nova reclined her head against the door. Summer's free hand trailed down and rested on Nova's metal arm, idly picking at the clean lines and screws of the prosthetic.

Seeing no other alternative, Blake joined them, sitting to Bianca's side and pulled out her own book, settling into the pattern emerging. Ruby, no wanting to get left out, floated over to Blake and sat down, pulling her new book from her corset pocket. Tai immediately pounced on her.

"Ruby. What're you reading?" Ruby looked up over her book, silver eyes already gleaming. She was getting to the good part. Bianca hid a smile.

"A book." Ruby answered succinctly, smiling unnervingly. Blake facepalmed, forgetting entirely which book Ruby had insisted on buying back at the bookstore, eyeing the disgusting shade of orange from between her fingers.

"It's a good book." Bianca lifted her book up to show her own orange covered book.

"Does everyone here read it?" Qrow leant up against the door and watched Tai interrogate them.

"Yes." The three members of Team SKBN and Ruby answered in unison. Blake stared between the three to her right and Ruby to her left in barely hidden disgust.

"I blame you Summer." Tai rounded on her. "She calls you mother and then I find her reading porn."

Summer ignored him, resting her head against Nova's shoulder and continued to read.

"Don't blame her. I got her interested." Bianca placated him. "She's an adult."

"She's not an-" He managed out before realizing she was an adult in the eyes of the law by her military service. "She still shouldn't be reading it."

"Have you read it?" Nova responded without opening her eyes. Tai shook his head. He was a teacher, he barely had enough time during the year to relax, yet alone read. "Then you can't pass judgement."

"It's still carries a stigma with it." Blake's uncovered ears twitched at his response. "Right, nevermind."

"We're Hunters." Bianca took over. "We carry a stigma wherever we go. We're meant to be the paragons of humanity; devoted to protecting those who can't protect themselves. We aren't machines. We have flaws and habits, and if we didn't, we'd snap."

They did their best to avoid looking at Summer. She could feel their attempts; she knew them too well.

"Gimme the book Ruby." Tai held out his hand. Ruby pouted at him, but closed her book and held it out to him. He would've grabbed the book if Qrow hadn't blocked the exchange.

"Tai." Qrow stared Tai down. "She's not a child anymore. You can't protect her all the time. You take the book now and she gets another when you're not here."

The stare down continued, red fighting against lilac. Qrow, having been out in the world and interacting with Hunters daily, knew it'd be a mute point. Tai spent his entire time at Signal, a boarding school where parents were almost always in contact with their children. He needed to let go.

"Try not to read it in public." Tai relented and Ruby beamed back at him, thanks shining in her eyes. Everyone had their quirks.

The cockpit door opened without warning and Kara strode into the fuselage. She blinked impertinently down at Summer, who had dozed off leaning on Nova, her book forgotten in her lap, thumb marking the page she was on.

Kara leant over and shook her shoulder, not reacting as as Summer's hand snapped up and grabbed her wrist in defense. She took to in her surrounding, noting she was back in the bullhead, and released the tension in her muscles. She took the wrist she was holding and pulled herself up, sliding her book back into her pouch.

A blink and a head tilt told her they had arrived. Summer pulled back the door to reveal Kara had parked in the vacant lot behind Junior's bar. In the midday of a weekday, the lot was empty, allowing Kara to pick her spot of choosing.

Summer hopped out of the craft with Kara nipping at her heels, the rest of her team following her. The back door of the bar was open, unguarded by any bouncer, and Summer pushed it open, striding it confidently with abandon.

She brushed by the Malachite twins before they could stop her and planted herself at the bar, grabbing Junior's attention.

"I thought you were dead." Junior cleaned a tumbler with a clean rag, eying Kara's tattoo. "Tai drank himself to pieces after your death."

"Mistaken identity, but my name is Summer." She stared at him, dual coloured eyed challenging his beliefs. He tried to stare back into the void of her eye, but found the process unnerving and soulless. His concentration was broken by the arrival of the rest of her party.

"And the man of the hour, Tai." Junior fanfared. "Your wife is alive by the way. She's sitting over there."

"Yeah, I know. We came with her." Tai sighed. "She's not my wife. She's my daughter."

From behind him walked his two blonde daughters, causing Junior to narrow his eyes.

"I thought I banned you from this establishment blondie." Yang fell back to her trademark head scratch. "Give me reason not to kick your ass out from her right now."

"You won't kick her out for the same reason this establishment exists." Summer's cold voice caused him to stand ramrod straight. "For the same reason why the police don't shut you down and for the same reason we don't shut you down. Now, I'll take a cider."

She wasn't suppose to know that. Only two people were suppose to know about why the establishment existed, the spymaster Qrow and the Headmaster himself. Qrow was still alive and standing next to Tai, meaning this woman, whoever she was, was now in charge of the Hunters, and by proxy, held him by the balls.

He shut up and got her her drink, cracking the cap off a bottle of cider he had in the fridge underneath the bar.

"Oooookkkaaaayyyyyy." Yang stretched out her words. "If you guys are done with your machismo and code talk, can I get a whisky, double, neat?"

"Are you going to pay this time or are you going to destroy my bar again?" Junior raised an eyebrow at her. "You took down quite a lot of my men when you were here last."

"You should get better henchmen." Yang shrugged at him. "Not my fault they fell down easier than a house of cards. But those twins?" Yang winked at the pair hovering by the end of the bar. "I wouldn't mind another tousle with them."

Blake growled possessively as Miltia waved back coyly. Both backed down as Yang placed a hand on her girlfriend and Melanie swatted her sister's hand down.

"Not in my bar." Junior replied as he placed her drink in front of her. "What can I get the rest of you?"

Kara mimed a few words, but Junior understood none of it. Summer finally jumped in and translated her message, asking for a craft beer, and if he didn't have that, then whatever beer he had lying around. He looked offended before pulling out a bottle of Bourbon District Brand Stout.

Nova joined Yang with another tumbler of whisky and Bianca, keeping in her role as a former heiress, asked for a dirty martini with a twist of lemon. Junior grunted, happy his customers knew what they liked and weren't pestering him with inane questions about drinks.

It left Tai and Qrow to deal with the three remaining members of Team RWBY. Neither of them particularly knew how to deal with three underage, yet legal teenagers, who knew nothing about the world of alcohol.

"Just give Ruby a Shirley Temple, Weiss a glass of champagne and Blake a beer." Nova noticed their conundrum and ordered for them. "Weiss and Blake already know what they like, and Ruby can wait another year before jumping in head first."

Qrow looked relieved at Nova's orders and furthermore when Junior slid a shot of vodka his way. He downed the shot straight, shuddering as the burn made its way down his throat and warmed his stomach.

Tai received a half filled bottle of tequila, its label worn with age. They could make out the year 71 AGW on it and nothing more.

"I've been keeping this locked up for whenever you stopped by, considering the last time you were here." Junior indicated the carbon copy of Summer sitting a few seats away, inspecting the liquid's movements as she toyed with her bottle.

"Thanks." Tai uncorked the bottle and threw a couple of gulps back, letting the alcohol dull his senses. "Summer, start talking."

"Qrow asked me to keep him from drinking in my presence." Summer placed her bottle down on a coaster as Qrow chuckled, remember what he asked back in the office. "I'm assuming you shouldn't be drinking either. You were both torn up when Summer died."

"Even Raven joined us for a few drinks." Qrow slid his shot glass back to Junior but declined another one.

"My bitch of mother drank for her?" Yang bit back her whisky. "Hard to believe."

"No matter how bad of mother Raven might have been, she still cared for Summer, in her own way." Tai supplied. "Hard not to care for anyone you've spent the last eight years with."

"Hear hear." Bianca sipped from her martini before slamming it down carefully, signaling for another one. Weiss and Yang looked at her in amazement but she simply shrugged at them.

"How long have you all been together?"

"Five years. Five, long, agonizing years stuck with these idiots." Bianca answered, getting two slaps on the back of her head from Kara and Nova for her trouble. Her Aura dulled the blows.

"Then the three of you are twenty-two and Summer twenty. And how long have you been married to each other?"

"Officially? Since yesterday." Nova responded. "Unofficially, I don't think anyone actually proposed. We kinda just fell along together."

"Typical Hunter wedding then." Qrow laughed. "Very few Hunters actually get the chance to marry properly."

"And you four are perfectly fine with them being together?" Tai directed to Team RWBY.

"It might be a little weird for Yang and Blake but they've already explained they're not from our future." Ruby sipped on her drink innocently, opening Pandora's box. "They're just different dimension us."

"And why would it be a little weird for Yang and Blake?" Tai watched as the two fidgeted under his gaze.

"They're dating." Summer answered for them, handing back Junior her empty bottle. "Yang's just afraid you'll reject her as your daughter."

"For what?" Tai scoffed. "Her choice of partner? Because she's a female or because she's a Faunus? Unlike some, I couldn't care less. Congratulations."

"I guessed you'd be more angry about me replacing Summer in Ruby's life as a mother." Tai's eyes narrowed as he detected modulation within Summer's voice. "Or at least weirded out."

"Ruby can decide who she wants to call mother. I expected she would cling to whichever mother authority appeared in her life first. I expected it to be Yang first, and Glynda when she came to Beacon." Tai let another shot of tequila down his throat. "You're an older Ruby from a different timeline who looks exactly like her mother. I'd be surprised if she didn't cling to you. She can choose worse role models."

He placed his bottle down with a resounding clang.

"Such as a role model who doesn't lie." No one in Team SKBN reacted to the accusation, keeping up their appearances of normality.

"What do you mean she's lying?" Ruby created slurping noises as she drained her drink down to the ice cubes. "Mom wouldn't lie."

"Ruby, take your team outside or away from the bar. That's an order."

"Mom?" Ruby threatened her with her silver eyes.

"An order as your commanding officer." Summer's parting words snapped protocol into Ruby faster than she could sprint. She lead her team to one of the booths, and Miltia and her sister followed them, leaving the seven of them alone at the bar top.

"Junior, leave us alone." The barkeep made himself scarce, leaving six. Summer removed the moon shaped emblem from her pouch and laid it on the counter. "I've never lied to Ruby. I don't get the concept of a lie. I'm protecting her."

Tai flinched at her tone, the utter void of anything resembling emotions, be it hatred, content, warmth or even cold permeating it.

"You get used to it." Bianca slammed another martini back, sucking on the lemon rind.

"I haven't." Qrow moved to Summer's other side and took the seat.

"This is what you're hiding? A monotone?" Tai scoffed and Kara grit her teeth. "That's nothing."

"The monotone isn't anything significant. The reason why I have it, is." Summer answered. "The story behind it is one of the reasons why we're here. Most time travelers in literature, or in our case, dimension hoppers, go back in time to fix a mistake. We lost a war and Remnant fell."

She slid the emblem over to Tai.

"That emblem denotes the rank of the High Commander, the single Hunter in charge of the Hunters, voted it by more that's 60% of them, or named as a successor by the previous. In two weeks time, I will officially wear it and wage war against the White Fang."

"Bullshit." Summer smiled back in emulated amusement. "Ozpin's letting you take charge of his Hunters?"

"For his own reasons. He has his own eccentricities as I'm sure you're aware. I have a chance to fix my mistakes and I'm taking it. I'm telling you because as one of Signal's tenured professors, Signal will become a field outpost."

Tai grunted, acknowledging the order. It was what Signal was initially built to be, but had been converted after the Great War to begin teaching the next generation of Hunters.

"Tell me about this war."

"The war started two days ago when the White Fang successfully assaulted Beacon, destroying the CCTS and killing the Headmaster. It was done by hijacking several hundred of Atlesian droids with a virus. This virus spread along the statewide relay systems and every Atlesian droid stationed at our borders turned and started slaughtering civilians. Hundreds of thousands died before the shutdown code could be broadcast. For their actions in the assault, Vale declared war on Atlas, and the Second Great War began."

Tai sucked in a deep breath, unable to believe this could be happening around them as they spoke.

"In order to prevent a four way slaughterfest, the Hunters locked each city down and plunged us into a cold war. It wasn't perfect, but it limited casualties to several tens of thousands rather than the potential millions. Qrow here was the High Commander during this."

"His death during a botched operation robbed Kara of her voice and left me in charge as the next in line. However, Bianca was left in charge for six months as I was captured during the tail end of the mission and wallowed in the comfort of a cell."

"Why? You weren't the High Commander yet. You weren't important enough to warrant an extended stay in a cell." Tai didn't want to make the connection of what Summer went through as a prisoner if her monotone was a byproduct.

"For the same reason why your Summer was killed. For the same reason why I'm missing an eye. For the same reason why Ruby is never leaving my sight until this threat is dealt with or she can handle anything thrown at her."

"Summer was killed in an accident. By Grimm." Qrow frowned at her implication. "Wasn't she?"

"It was something I learned during my internment. It was the reason I was kept alive and not killed. Summer wasn't killed. You assumed she was killed because you couldn't find a body. She was captured by the same people who captured me. She was captured because of her eyes. Our eyes."

Tai emptied half of the remaining liquid in the bottle.

"She didn't suffer as I did. Her captors didn't want her, only her eyes. They ripped them out, but upon seeing them fail when taken from their host, they tried to implant them back. The eyes wouldn't take and she was killed." Summer spoke casually, ignoring the two men's' flinches as she talked about Summer's death. "I was next in line, but they didn't know about me until my public appearance in the Vytal Tournament."

"Instead of being killed or having my eyes gouged out, I was put through 'rehabilitation.'. Summer chuckled at her own joke. "I broke before they could have turned me against my Hunters. I'm protecting Ruby from myself, from a visage of what she became, a monster."

"And you three let her call herself a monster?" Tai asked after no one rejected her words.

"She knows what she is. She doesn't want to be lied to." Nova downed the last of her whisky. "She can't feel; can't hate, can't love, can't hurt, can't envy, can't fear, can't cry. The list goes on. She's a shell, a weapon we control."

The worse part: there were two of them. And dimensional barriers would bend if the two ever decided they wanted to mutually annihilate one another.

"Well that's all good and dandy them. An emotionless sociopath who can be turned on a target of your choosing." Tai's voice rose and it was only by the grace of the music Team RWBY couldn't hear them from across the bar.

"The correct term is psychopath." Summer said.

"That's it. That's all you're going to offer?" Tai accused. "Do you even want help?"

"We can't help her. We tried." Bianca sighed. "We tried for more than a year. Not a once in a week appointment, but everyday we tried to reconstruct who Summer used to be. It didn't work. It's not as if the real Summer is trapped in her mind from her torture; she no longer exists. She can't construct emotions because she has no basis to what they feel so she fakes everything, but since she has no basis to emotion, she can't categorise memories."

"And you remember everything from before your internment?"

"Everything, including every single moment of my time in my torture chamber. I can remember as well as you can remember any memory, but with no emotions clogging and causing bias."

"Do you know how it feels to like, let alone love?" Summer shook her head. "Yet you're somehow married to Kara. You're fine being married to a psychopath who can never love you back?"

Kara shrugged.

"She's the one who rescued me from my cell. She was the first person to whisper kind words to me for the first time in six months. The first person to touch me without intent to harm. The person who sat by my side until I woke from my coma. Her actions left a scar on me, one not filled with pain, but with care. I learnt how to care back."

"But nothing more?"

"Nothing more." Summer repeated.

"I'm gonna need more drink." Tai rested the cool glass against his forehead. "Too much information; first my Summer, then you Summer. Ruby can never know about her mother."

Summer channeled her Semblance under her while gripping the bar top underneath, rotating around the top and twirling around to land neatly behind the bar.

"She'll find out eventually. Whether you tell her, I tell her, or her enemies tell her. I suggest you start by telling her who her real father is."

Tai missed his bottle completely and stared wide-eyed at the unresponsive soul staring right back.

"Can't keep everything secret. It's on her birth certificate, and once she asks for that, the secret's out."

"Which she'll never see."

"Unless I order her to get a copy of it because of an information error in her profile." Summer replied back without pause. "Tell her before she graduates, or I will."

"Summer." Qrow interjected. "I'm not her father. Not a real one. Tai was there for when I wasn't and by the time I got my head straight, I was far too late."

"You do realize Summer and I, and by proxy, Yang and Ruby consider you a father, even if we call you Uncle? They have two moms now, so why not add another parental figure into their screwed up lives."

"And what do I tell her?" Tai snapped. "That we've been lying to her for her entire life? I didn't even want Qrow around her, but once she got attached to him, she wanted him around. You think it was easy having him around? A reminder Ruby wasn't mine, but his? I tried to kill him the first time I saw him."

"Closest shave I've ever had." Qrow rubbed a thin patch of skin under his chin. "Took off a few layers of skin."

"Yet you two raised two girls to adulthood." Nova reminded. "If I didn't know better, you two would be the poster parents for adoption cases."

"Me and him?" Qrow said, before growing pale at her insinuation. "Please never mention us together again. No offense Tai."

"Not taken." Tai agreed. "Though we always did have good taste in women. I shouldn't have been surprised."

"I'm surprised you didn't chase after Raven." Qrow remarked.

"She always seemed to have a few screws loose. Besides, I had my eyes on Summer the second I saw her."

"Those annoying, twinkling eyes of hers." Qrow concluded for the both of them, looking up to catch Summer watching him. "Nothing like yours I'm afraid."

Summer said nothing in response. She could stare into a mirror for hours and not see her mother in her eye. Kara always said it reminded her of her knives, reflecting whichever situation she happened to be in. Clean and sharp when in their sheaths, and bloody and hungry when on the field.

She had seen Summer in the middle of an army and watched her rip through human, Faunus, mech and droid alike. Her eyes had taken on the hue of a rolling monsoon, an indication Summer had submitted to her baser instincts, removing the facade of High Commander and letting the world see who she truly was. She wasn't a broken and closed off victim of torture, nor the leader of the most terrifying force on the planet; she was a machine, fueled by Aura, orders and objectives.

James had given her a title, whispered among the ranks of Hunter and White Fang alike.

Reaper.

Death.

Summer had given a genuine smile when James had told her about it.

"Is there anything else you want to know Tai?" Summer snatched his bottle of tequila before he could imbibe any more. "If you drink any more then I'm going to have to fend off advances from you."

"Good point. One more question for Nova and Bianca?" Both of them gave a sigh, expecting it. "How'd you get with the heiress of the SDC?"

"Would you rather I go after Kara, or maybe Summer even?" Tai blanched at the last one. "Then shut up about it and be happy for us."

"She punched me, I punched her, then we demolished a training room and collapsed into happy tears." Bianca answered. "Simple. Happy?"

"No. When you four get the time, we're getting proper drunk and you're going to tell me how you four ended up together. I also have to tease Yang."

"Thanks for paying for our drinks by the way." Nova added cheekily.

Tai nodded along before catching himself.

"Wait. No I'm not. To each his own."

"You think the people who arrived here two days ago have money? Besides, you suggested the bar."

"Hmm. Junior!" The keeper popped his head out into the bar. "Put it on my tab."

"By the way, I'm stealing Ruby and Yang for the summer." Bianca added. "They need the training."

"As long as they come visit for the weekends."

"I can do that."

A comfortable silence spread among them, everyone lost in thought. Soon, Summer decided she had had enough thinking.

"We need to get back to Beacon. Tai, you and Team RWBY can stay here if you wish. You're not needed. Enjoy the recreational time." Tai acquiesced to her, moving over to the Team RWBY's full booth. "C'mon Dusty, there's another Schnee we have to meet."

They slipped out of the bar before Team RWBY could notice they were gone.

At least that would've been the plan if they didn't need Weiss, but a message to her scroll and she excused herself to the bathroom, skulking away to the bullhead without her leader knowing.

* * *

AN: A few setup pieces for the next coming chapters. Next chapters deal with Winter, Menagerie, Neo and the labour camps. Virtual cookie for those who can guess where the CSO's name comes from. It's a combination of two real life names.


	8. Eight - Guards

Chapter Eight

* * *

 **Guards**

* * *

 _Lair - Salem's Domain_

This was boring.

Immensely boring.

Awfully, immensely, agonizingly boring, without my ice cream.

At least the meetings with Adam and his posse were entertaining. I usually felt bitterness, sadism and vengeance coalescing within him, but on the outside, he radiated calculation and calm. Just another mask someone else wore.

The _man_ who sat in Adam's seat was nothing like him. They were both Faunus, but shared nothing else. He thought he was slick, hiding his tail around his waist like a belt. Adam was suited to lead the White Fang. This man, Tyrian Callows, wasn't.

He was highly unstable and maladjusted if his rants during these meetings was anything to go by. Not five minutes would go by before he made a ridiculous claim about gouging Ruby Rose's eye out in revenge for Cinder, or setting the world on fire, and would then devolve in uncontrollable, maniacal laughter.

He was loyal to a fault, I'd give him that.

"Neo, are you listening?" Salem broke my line of thinking. I had rested my head on the table to alleviate the headache of listening to her talk about being disappointed in us. I lifted my head up and let her know I was, tilting my head and blinking my eyes impassively in return.

I considered it a success when her eye twitched.

"Your failure at Beacon sets our plans for Vale back." She didn't monologue anymore about being disappointed, but I could sense it. "What went wrong?"

Without Roman there to translate and relay my words for me, I was back to using my scroll to communicate. Poor guy, I was starting to like him and then he got himself eaten by a Griffon.

 _Little Red pushed me off the Airship and I couldn't save Roman before he got eaten by a Grimm._ Emerald read off the contents to the assembly. _I can't fly._

Salem tutted, tapping her fingers against the mahogany. It was just another failure among failures from their assault onto Beacon. Ruby had downed the Atlesian Command Airship, causing them to lose control of the droids on the ground, allowing the Hunters to regroup and push them out.

"And Ozpin?" Salem turned away from me, turning her attention to the disgraced Cinder.

"Dead." Cinder answered. Salem's eyes narrowed dangerously and the tendons in her hands flexed. She was ticked.

"Are you sure?" Scratch that. She was incensed. Lover's spat? Maybe family? Personal vengeance maybe, but she was exhibiting restrained rage, not letting it pass to her allies, keeping it tightly bound within her. Those two relationships created rage no other relationships could. Callows was capable of it, but Salem wasn't insane.

"I collapsed several tons of concrete and rubble onto him. He's dead." Cinder confirmed.

"But did you see him die?" Cinder's silence and subtle shifting told Salem she hadn't seen him die. Of course, I had seen the man alive and teased him a few hours ago, but she didn't need to know that. "Then he's still alive."

"But-" Cinder started, voice cracking, before Salem stopped her.

"Ozpin is a cockroach. Until I see his body burn, I presume he's still alive." Salem paused, letting them take in the news. "What did we lose from the invasion?"

"Three dozen bullheads, half that in Alpha Grimm and fifty of my grunts haven't checked in." Tyrion recited. "Of course, that doesn't count the Dragon we lost."

"There should have been no one on the campus able to harm it." Salem hissed. "I had everyone accounted, which means we missed something." How sweet of her to phrase it so nicely, putting some blame on herself. "Neo, who did we miss?"

I moved my head in an infinity pattern and then shrugged, portraying my own confusion at the gap in information.

"I want to know who killed it." I knew she wasn't sentimental about the Dragon's demise. They were nothing but tools for her in her guerilla war against the Hunters. She was more annoyed than terrified about the Hunter who bested the Dragon. At least, that was what I sensed.

I nodded my head, letting her know I'd do my best to find out any information about the Hunter. There was no express order given to relay the information I found, or already knew as it was the case. Just to find the information and I was ahead in the game.

Another nod from her told me I was dismissed and I was enveloped in a pulsing portal of purple and black and dumped into the location I was plucked from; a back alley in one of the Beacon Districts which led to my favourite ice cream cafe.

Interesting.

Perhaps my loyalties were being questioned. Roman wasn't loyal to their cause, just loyal to the money he was promised and since I was loyal to him, they assumed I was loyal to money as well. Meaning I wasn't privy to the more in depth meetings Salem was having with the rest of her little faction.

Ozpin and Summer wouldn't be happy. One of them at least. While both were realists, Ozpin actually held onto his morals and learned to plan around them, but Summer, being a kindred soul, would plan for the worst.

My further thoughts about getting ice cream were cut as my scroll reconnected with the regional towers. Few people had this number and even fewer had the guts to message me.

Pulling out my scroll, I was met with the impassive face of a blank silhouette and a blocked number, but the name made me pause. It was titled: 'Friend'. Apparently, Bianca had deemed it necessary to give me Summer's number instead of her own and covered her tracks in case it happened in public.

Though, Bianca gave me her number, not the other way around and not even Ozpin knew the number to this scroll.

 _Beacon, Headmaster's Office, 1600, Disguise as Kara_

Short and to the point. Not asking if I wanted to accept, but knowing enough to know she had my interest.

Another beep on my scroll forwarded me the credentials I needed to get onto the Airship headed for Beacon. I had no doubt they were temporary.

I still had a few hours to kill. I could waste it indulging in ice cream.

Or.

I could have fun with Summer and poke and purvey the depths of her soul, or lack of one as it may be the case. It was probably still there, mangled and restrained beyond any hope of recognition or recovery. Just like mine.

I liked or. Or meant I could do both.

The chime on the door of the cafe told the owner his favourite customer was back. It probably had nothing to do with the copious amounts of ice cream I inhaled easily and always paid for. My lifestyles choices paid for themselves easily enough.

"And what can I get for you today?" He asked this question every time I walked in if I ever happened to change my mind and today was one of those days. Forty different flavours of ice cream stretched out underneath the glass.

I indicated I wanted one of the erasable placards he kept behind the counter for people like me; the deaf or the mute. I was going to have to show this place to Kara.

 _Do you want ice cream?_

My scroll beeped back almost instantaneously.

 _Strawberry. I have a freezer in my room. Hang out there._

I wrote down my order on the placard and handed it over. Half a quart of Neapolitan ice cream and half a quart of Strawberry ice cream, with real strawberry chunks.

"New friend?" Fortescue raised an eyebrow. I usually never got more than one flavour and only did when I was with someone, most notably Roman, who usually got pistachio. He was weird like that. I mean pistachio? Seriously? Mint was better, but nothing could beat my triple flavoured namesake.

Unbeknownst to me, Bianca had an inexplicable urge to cheer and then hurt a mute. Kara would have to do for the time being.

I gave a partial bouncing nod. Acquaintance for now. Friend, maybe. I had never before seen such a similar soul before in my lifetime. People like us usually self-destructed, were completely inept husks, or were eventually put down by their friends and loved ones.

I had managed to keep a small amount of myself through my long and grueling training, but the coming war had stripped everything from me as I watched countries tear each other apart. The last of my family had been killed; my two brothers and sister. The rest of my family had been killed off before them.

Without anything to tie my down, I started wandering, the only semblance of memory being a rapier gifted to me by my half-brother. Not even my name could tie my down. I couldn't properly remember it and I doubted Ozpin remembered it either.

And the coin. Couldn't forget the coin.

I pulled myself from my memories as Fortescue handed over my two purchases in a freezer bag and I handed over the required lien. I waved him a goodbye and exited the cafe, the usual chime jingling when I opened the door.

I proceeded to a random alleyway and wrapped the entrance to it with an illusion, making it seen as if nothing had changed and I wasn't in it. Even if it was a desolate path between buildings, I could never be certain.

I sank into my memories of Kara, imagining the exquisite Faunus in her ethereal glory.

Black chased down the lengths of my hair, chasing the brown, white, and pink away, before morphing into a clear to hide the rather considerable length. Hair was always a finicky illusion as my long hair could move and distort the normal motions of short hair. I added the cat ears absentmindedly, having seen my fair share from the White Fang.

I breathed life into my eyes, substituting my heterochromatic ones for gold and altering my pupils the match the feline's. I wouldn't get any benefits off them, sadly.

Passing a hand over my face tinged my skin to a rosy olive, the colour seeping down my body to my hands and feet. Another pass altered my facial structure, moving cheekbones and fixing my jawline to match Kara's.

Next came the worst part: scaling the illusion to match her height. Kara stood at a massive 5'9" and I stood at 4'10", not even cresting the five foot mark. It was disorientating, having my vision eleven inches below where the eyes of my illusion were suppose to be seeing from, but my years of practice came in handy as I tied each part of this illusory body to a point on my real one.

I had almost thought my transformation complete until I looked down at myself and saw the writhing swathes of intermingling colour where my clothes should be, tracing out a rough outline of where my real clothes were.

This illusory frame couldn't support actual clothing so I imagined a fitted grey tee and a pair of black skinny jeans on myself. A pair of black trainers tied the clothing off.

Weaponry was the last bit, but I hadn't seen what type of weapon she had exactly, only seeing the end of a handle sticking over her shoulder when I meet her. I switched the carrying method of my rapier from my hip to my back and blanketed the image away. It went wherever I went.

I shattered the illusion around the alleyway and frightened a passing lorry driver. My disguise was complete and Summer would help solidify it and make sure it passed the muster.

Thankfully, the Beacon Districts were rather small. Everything was compact; the ferry station only half a click away. I would make it there on the hour.

I remember the council carefully carving the map to limit Beacon's direct regional control. Keep the Hunter's satisfied with petty tokens of appreciation and they'd have a force to use against the Grimm.

I spent the walk getting used to the illusion, noding to random people in the streets, especially if they gave me looks of disdain for my ears.

Humanity was petty. A few distinguishing traits and they suddenly thought they had the right to discriminate. Of course, it didn't apply to the majority of people; just the bigots.

I looked at the sky. There were a few clouds drifting listlessly, but nothing threatening rain. Rain just made my life harder. Each rain drop could shatter any part of my illusion and I'd be forced to continuously spend Aura to maintain them.

A nice man greeted me at the station check in. Not everyone could get access to the school after all. It was a military base at its core.

I pulled up the temporary identification Summer had sent me and handed the scroll over. Rather than inspect it, he scanned it, the NFC chip registering the data.

His smile turning sickeningly fake as his pallor dropped and sweat started to form on his neck. He needed practice.

"Have a nice day ma'am." He managed to stutter out and usher me past. I caught the data still on the screen.

Summer didn't want any problems for me, registering me as an A-class Captain; directly below her in the chain of command if I recalled the structure correctly.

I felt insulted. Or the persona I was wearing mimicked an insult. My memories couldn't quite fathom insult, but practice made perfect. The shred of pride I had within me wanted to ask her to upgrade me to S-class, but knew it would cause nothing but problems.

Boarding the Airship was no problem as I ignored the ramp and leapt up straight to the emergency hatches at the top of the craft. Twisting the handle, I dropped into the bridge, scaring the crew.

I halted their protests by letting the skipper read my credentials. He couldn't exactly protest my presence; I was highest ranking member on this ship. He gave me a simple warning of not touching anything, and I planted myself directly behind the glass to watch the ship take off.

The ship swung away from the station, its wing rotating as it transitioned to a forward vector, mostly carrying construction material if the thrust to weight ratio was reading correctly.

Beacon hadn't taken enough damage to warrant this much material if this was one of several Airships constantly rotating between the school and the district. Someone was making plans and it wasn't just for repairs.

They were mobilizing, and Summer wanted my help. It wasn't Ozpin calling the shots anymore, but her. The SMS stated she didn't just want to meet me. She wanted to see how far my abilities extended, to be able to see whether I could replicate someone she knew intimately.

Which meant she needed me for anything from a replacement mission to an assassination mission, and couldn't be implicated in it.

My respect for her elevated higher.

I didn't wait for the ship to transition back to its docking sequence, leaping back up through the hatch in the ceiling and vaulting over the edge of the craft to free fall onto the landing platforms. I made sure to warp the area around me while I descended to make sure no one saw me.

If I wasn't so small and the platforms weren't solid steel then I'm sure they would've cracked.

 _Room number?_

 _2117\. I'm leaving campus. Have fun._

I scanned the landing platforms, picking out the only Hunter who matched me in emotional signature. Sure enough, there she was, standing behind a tall blonde man. As if knowing I was watching her at the moment, she gave me one handed signs confirming the room number and a goodbye.

I disappeared after that, heading towards her room, letting her know I got her message.

Just as I suspected, the window was barely ajar. I jimmied the rest of the distance with my rapier and disappeared into the room, closing the window in the same manner I found it.

I immediately placed my frozen treats into the mini fridge placed by the desk.

 _Did you change the sheets?_

 _Yes, my bed is right of the window._

She didn't seem surprised I was going to crash or about my presumptions about the bed she shared with Kara.

I forced my mind blank and drifted off into dreamless oblivion, the days of exhaustion finally catching up to me.

* * *

The light brush of wind across my face snapped me from sleep and I leveled my rapier at the intruder's throat, only to have it blocked by a vambrace.

I offered no apology to trying to skewer her throat and slipped my weapon back into its invisible sheath.

"Looks almost perfect." Summer paced around me, reminding me I was currently impersonating a woman standing in the same room as me. I must've snapped it back on after I awoke. "Your ears need a few light scars and splotches, but you can see for yourself."

Kara offered herself up for inspection and I enjoyed the feeling of being able to craft a work of art. Imagining a person was fun, but actually getting to create a forgery was a testament.

There were a few tiny aesthetics I missed, most glaringly obvious being the lack of scar on her neck. I traced a finger across my neck and added it, matching it to a tee.

Her hair wasn't as soft or luscious as mine and held a vague tactile resemblance to animal fur. It was coarser than human hair, but held a softness within it. I had never felt anything like it before. It took several tries before Summer and Kara agreed my hair could pass. I added in the light splotch of grey on my left ear.

Her eyes weren't solid gold, but actually were more like ripples of gold traveling away from the pupil. I altered mine to match hers. Her facial structure and skin tone I managed to match perfectly. I seemed to have a knack for those.

She had an interesting style of clothing, mixing in varying shades of black and white, and I could have tried to match the clothing but Summer said not to bother. Kara owned similar enough clothing to the ones I had crafted.

A useful combination of lacking a true identity, and my Semblance allowed me to 'save' my illusions in a mental file drawer. I saved a copy of Kara and stepped into her, two exactly similar Faunus staring at each other.

I decided to kiss her.

I was expecting her to recoil in disgust or pause in shock, but I felt disappointment instead as her hand threaded into my fake hair and broke the illusion, shattering the entirety of it.

"She can make clones Neo." Summer answered my unspoken question. If she didn't even recoil at kissing a visage of herself then I wondered what she and Summer got up to on their downtime. "No Neo, we don't need clones. We have Bianca and Nova for that."

Even with our identities stripped from ourselves, it was near impossible to strip primal instincts. These weren't crafted emotions, the phantasmagoric emotions which clouded and biased everyday interactions.

 _Though, I'm not adverse to using them to keep her in her place._

They had an interesting dynamic it seemed. Kara had the presence of an alpha, but Summer held equal footing with her. They probably fought for dominance over the other, but refused to complete it, preferring the dance of equals.

It was much like the dances I shared with Ozpin. Except I stood nowhere near him as an equal.

 _What'll you be doing while I'm out masquerading as you?_

 _Working on my part of the mission we need you on._

 _Do I get to kill anyone?_

"During the first part, no, but for the second, you can let loose."

It had been such a long time since Ozpin had let me loose. I can't quite remember what happened, but I remember Ozpin scolding me for several weeks about causing the collapse of a civilization.

Meh.

"Come. I'll explain the rest up in Ozpin's office." I arched an eyebrow at her words. It seemed I was wrong about who was in charge. I reapplied my illusion and bade farewell to Kara, only to remember the treats I had stashed in the room. I removed both of them and handed over the strawberry to Summer, along with a spoon.

Kara released a silent snort, but made to further comments.

I startled as I felt Summer wrap her Semblance around me and let me get used to the feeling before we ran off towards the tower.

It was unfortunate we had to take the elevator as neither of us had the ability to scale walls. It let Ozpin know the rest of his guests were here as the hidden partition opened up.

Summer's blasé reaction to not having the real Kara next to her solidified my acting as we stepped out in Ozpin office. The man, as usual, sat at his desk and drank from his cocoa mug. There were five other people in the room with him.

To his right stood the pair of Bianca and Nova, not giving any indication they knew their teammate was being impersonated. To his left stood Bianca's copy, whose name I didn't know, the General of Atlas, and Qrow Branwen. The latter two had tried to kill me, each at least twice now.

Ozpin noticed the ice cream we were each carrying. He didn't bat an eye at the strawberry ice cream Summer was carrying, but his silver eyes danced with mirth when he noticed the tri-coloured ice cream I was eating.

"Summer, Kara, nice of you to join us. Winter seems to be running late." He was playing along with this. He could never resist a prank.

As if on cue, a gleaming silver Atlesian Command Ship descended from the cloud bank. While not much bigger than its Vale counterpart, it boasted a larger fire load and could act as a portable regional transmission station.

"She always loves to make grand entrances." The General sighed, watching the ship traverse the skies and disappear into the northern hangers.

Winter. Winter Schnee I assumed by the presence of the younger. That's why she looked familiar. White hair and blue eyes. The White Fang liked to play darts with their faces. Among other things.

But I still didn't know why she was here.

"Weiss, you and the rest of my team will hide in the clockwork gears before Winter gets here." So that was her name.

"Why?"

"I may have talked with Winter over a video call and got her to think I was you." Weiss blinked back, again asking why. "Because I thought it would be funny. Now, go hide."

It seemed every powerful Hunter enjoyed screwing with the less powerful. Such went the way of life.

Weiss looked unsure of her orders, but a nod from my new friend had her leaping up into the clockworks, followed by the rest of us. I filed away the note for later; Summer had established herself as Weiss' superior.

Summer and I crouched on one of the slowing ticking gears, watching as Winter entered the office, only to be barreled over by Bianca, acting as Weiss. It had happened so fast I suspected Summer had helped, but she was revealing nothing.

It was hard getting a read on her. It was like looking at a mirror. An older, dustier mirror, but a mirror nonetheless.

"Weiss?" Winter picked herself up with her feet, struggling against the parasite attached to her. James gave a chuckle, knowing what it felt. I sucked on my ice cream, getting ready for the coming entertainment. "Let go."

"Mou~ So cold." She was adorable. My lack of a voice stopped me from being able to do it, but if I had one, I would constantly be shifting into her. "At least act like you're happy to see me."

"Nice to see you too." Winter returned the hug gently, causing Bianca to release her hold. Touch was important too. Couldn't forge that either. A double layered illusion allowed me to eat my ice cream, one to hide the real ice cream, and the other to mimic ice cream. It took much more hassle than it should've. "You've changed. You look older."

It seemed this prank wasn't going to last long if the narrowing of Winter's eyes was anything to go by. Looking between the Bianca and Weiss, the differences were easy enough, but if Winter wasn't able to notice then it meant they were estranged. Both had the predilection for white, but Weiss was dressed conservatively in a short dress compared to Bianca's tee and short shorts.

"I'm eighteen now." I wondered what the actual age gap was between the dimension hoppers. "And I'm a Hunter. Time the show the world who I am."

"You're wearing short shorts in public." Winter's demeanor changed. "Weiss would never wear short shorts in public."

Damn, brain freeze.

"She would also never hug me like that, especially if James and Ozpin were watching." An armoured arm materialised holding a broadsword at Bianca's throat. "Your scar looks too old to be received less than two weeks ago. You're not my sister."

"You think I could get away with impersonating Weiss in a room with Ozpin and James?" Neither of them moved against Bianca at Winter's accusation. "Could I do this if I wasn't your sister?"

She spawned a glyph in the tiny space between her throat and the broadsword and then continued to spawn them around Winter and her construct, trapping them in a dome.

"Weiss wasn't even close to this level of Semblance usage two weeks ago." Winter tested the dome, hitting it multiple times with her constructed sword. None of the glyphs broke, nor did Bianca seen to struggle with their maintenance. "James, get me out of here."

Bianca trapped him in a dome too before he could reply. It was impressive watching the woman work with her Semblance. A few more years and Weiss would be able to do the same.

"Now what? I have both of you trapped." The General continued to not react which meant he was in on this.

"That gives me the right to do this." Winter spawned two larger glyphs outside the dome, revealing two Alpha Beowolves ready to pounce. Two domes sprang up around them, trapping them as well. "Okay. I call bullshit. How many of these can you hold up?"

"As many as I want." She was going to be a challenge to spar against. A chess master against an illusionist. She lowered the four domes she had created. "I really am your sister Winter. One of them at least."

"What do you mean by 'one of them'?"

Weiss took this as her cue to jump down from the gears and landed directly next to Bianca. Winter took one look at them and walked to the minibar. At least she was professional about it and not panicking.

"I don't remember you being born with a twin which leaves you to be a clone, but you're able to control our hereditary Semblance exceptionally well, which takes several years of practice. You don't look older than me which means you're Weiss or me from the future. Am I close?"

So she wasn't just a pretty face. But why was I here if James and her were here? Summer could've asked me to show up whenever, but she choose this time, meaning they were part of the operation, but couldn't know I was taking part of it.

"Older Weiss from another dimension." It was strange why they were telling her. They could've stayed in the shadows and not interacted with people who knew their dimensional counterparts. They needed her then, not just James.

"So why are you here?" It seemed the shock of learning it hadn't even passed through her system.

"Right now, I'm here to make sure Weiss gets her independence." She flashed a megawatt smile. "And to screw with you."

Lord Schnee would not be happy when he learned of his eldest children gaining independence.

"You change." Her posture shifted to defensive.

"I grew up Winter." She offered simply.

"No. You really change. Your stance, gait, speech, emotional output. You're nothing like when you started Beacon." Observant.

"It's been five years since I started Beacon, four from now. I'm twenty two years old. I've accomplished more than I could've ever hoped."

"And Weiss' independence is a way to gain it?"

"Leaving her stuck under the overbearing thumb of our sperm donor will do nothing but diminish her. Can you already see what a year in Beacon has done?" Bianca pointed to the shifting Weiss at their side. Must've been awkward to be talked about like that.

Winter looked over her sister's form, eyes scouring every crack and chink in her armour. I couldn't judge. I knew nothing about her other than the fact the White Fang hated her and her family.

"Weiss, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Do you want a sister, or do you want a puppet?" Weiss retorted with as much pleasantness as she could muster. "Is that meant to be a serious question?"

"Let me rephrase. Do you want to keep your Atlesian citizenship, or give it up?"

"Is there a benefit to keeping my citizenship?" Winter thought about it and then shook her head. "Then I'm going to become a citizen of Vale and no longer be one of Atlas. I just need to find a consular officer and finalise my application."

A throat clearing cough directed everyone's attention to the Headmaster and General standing near each other.

"You can consider it done." Ozpin told her, extending his hand out for her scroll. She handed it over and he tabbed over to it, hovering over the last name. "There is one issue Bianca, Winter and James discussed without you, but I do believe you won't be opposed to it."

"Which is?"

"I changed your last name." Ozpin handed the scroll back.

"To what?" She reacted without looking at the scroll before noticing the name change. I couldn't see it from my vantage point.

"You're adopting me?" Weiss' voice cracked and snapped to look at James. He cracked a wry smile at her reaction and nodded.

The girl threw herself at the General, slamming into him and causing him to stumble back before returning the hug. She had some momentum in her body. Could I do the same to Ozpin? I'd have to hold that idea until I wasn't in this body. Maybe to Summer.

The grizzled spymaster decided now was the time to descend from the gears and landed next to James.

"Don't worry James. I brought a crowbar." Summer and her team shared a smiles. I was missing an inside joke.

"Qrow." Winter didn't seem surprised at his appearance. "Is that meant to be a pun or..?"

He gave her a puzzled look before removing an actual crowbar from who knows where. He didn't have any affinity towards illusions as far as I knew. He wedged one end between Weiss and James and tried to wrench them apart.

"You weren't kidding when you said you needed a crowbar to get Bianca off James. Seems the same applies to Weiss." He gave up his effort, watching as Weiss snuggled into her new father figure.

Bianca nudged Winter forward, tilting her head and looking at James.

Winter rolled her eyes, but walked over to the hugging pair and hugged James from the back, leaving him trapped in the middle. Bianca haphazardly joined the group, throwing herself vaguely in the middle.

"Girls, this is getting- a little- constricting." James managed to get out from underneath all the limbs trapping him.

"I'm gonna need an excavator at this point." Qrow sweatdropped, stowing his crowbar back to wherever he pulled it from. "Maybe a wrecking ball and few sticks of dynamite."

"Outside." Ozpin couldn't care less if he tried, just as long as it left his school intact. He was getting the jitters; his left hand was trembling imperceptibly. His cocoa supply must be running low.

"We got him some more." Summer whispered to me as if following my train of thoughts. We were on the same page it seemed. Another note to fill away. Similar thought patterns and detail recognition.

Under the weight of the two women, James collapsed onto the floor. At the ridiculousness of their situation, they burst into giggles and laughter before untangling themselves and helping each other up.

"Congratulations on your impromptu adoption, Miss Ironwood." Ozpin gestured to the scroll Weiss clutched tightly. "If you'd sign the form to finalize it, I'll prioritize the application."

Weiss did just that, signing her name with a flourish and handed her scroll over. Ozpin fiddled with the form momentarily before pulling up Weiss' profile and making the necessary changes. He handed her scroll back with a large green stamp of approval across the screen.

"That's it?" Weiss arched her eyebrow and received her scroll. "That was quick."

"I have absolute authority over my Hunters." For now before Summer comes into her role, but even then I couldn't see Ozpin stepping away from the role entirely. Summer would keep him as an advisor. "You're under the protection of the Vale Hunter Commander while also being protected by James as an Ironwood."

He wasn't going to be revealing anything it seemed. Not to the general public. Not yet. Ozpin and Summer were more than enough to protect a single Hunter and tacking on the name Ironwood made her untouchable; protected by two city-state Hunter factions.

They were protecting her beyond a normal scope. Beyond a level of protection an estranged heiress needed from her father and former family. They had removed her from any legal binding to Atlas and then tied her to Vale, further surrounding her as a member of the Ironwood family.

My initial mobilization theory grew stronger.

"That's it Miss Ironwood. I suggest keeping your new status hidden for at least the time it takes for Lord Schnee to ask for your return to Atlas." They feared the political fallout from the Schnee's, which they could solve by using me in an operation, if they were keeping it hidden until then. "Your team should be returning from their stint at the bar. Go celebrate."

"Can I tell my team?"

"Your team is your family." Ozpin loved to not give straight answers. "You're dismissed. Your sister and new father will be along after we finish our business."

Weiss sent James a shy smile before hugging him again and repeated the same for her sister. She disappeared into the elevator and rode down in an effort to find the remainder of her team.

"You've had your prank James, now do I get to meet Ozpin's successor or was there another reason Weiss was dismissed?" So I was correct with my assumptions earlier. Summer was replacing Ozpin, but didn't want everyone to know about it; only a select few.

"She's been in this room, waiting for Weiss to step out." Summer twitched to let her other two teammates know we were dropping. Nova and I dropped to either side of her.

"Summer Rose." She extended her head in an imitation of greeting, but this was nothing more than a cultured response created by her team. "A pleasure."

"Likewise." Winter shook her hand as tensions rose between the two. Summer was completely immune to Winter's posturing, but Winter was getting rattled by Summer's lack of response. Funny. She hadn't asked about Nova or I.

"Girls, enough." Ozpin cut the tension. "James and I have enjoyed a beneficial alliance of our Hunters for over twenty years. In an effort to bolster ties, we've crafted an operation to test cooperation."

"Approximately two weeks from now, the combined forces of Vale and Atlesian Hunters will siege, rescue and destroy the eight labour camps controlled by the Schnee Dust Corporation."

"You're out of your mind." Winter deadpanned. Not going well for cooperation right off the bat Summer. "Three people know the exact number and location of each and every camp."

"We have a plan to retrieve the information needed." Oh. Me. I was the plan. I was going to impersonate one of these three people to get the information. "We have a Hunter who can take the image of a target given a genetic sample. We'll use him to enter an SDC facility and retrieve the locations."

Liar, but Summer wasn't betraying anything from her facial micro-expressions to her gestures and stance.

"Plan to lure the target?"

"Night out on the town with seduction followed by a blackout and image copy. Kara is putting together a program to rip the information from a computer terminal. Estimated time for the plan is eight hours from initial contact at a bar. We'll need the locations of the SDC CSO and his undersecretary for the next two weeks."

"The CSO is a recluse but his undersecretary favors a bar called 'Pair of Aces' on the weekends." She gave the information without pause. Her network of informants must prioritize the SDC.

"I could have told you that." Qrow grumbled discontentedly and kicked imaginary dust up with his foot.

"Shut up Dusty." Summer and Winter retorted simultaneously and shared wicked smiles. A cloud hung above Qrow's head, bathing him with rain and lightning. His illusions were decent, but I really wanted to know where he put his crowbar.

"Once the information we have is verified, we move to strike every camp at once, depriving the SDC of a workforce. I have 3000 Bullheads and 12 Airships to use for this operation and by Bianca's calculations, we need 12 of your Airships to evacuate everyone."

"That's your entire fleet of ships in use at one time." Winter calculated. Even I wasn't sure about the number of Bullheads Vale had in operational service. "And around 33% of your forces being deployed outside of the country."

"Yes. A necessary measure to wean the White Fang and the Faunus from beyond Cinder and her faction's control." Interesting. She was keeping Salem's involvement a secret to her ally. Wasn't really important in the short term.

"Not going for the offensive." Winter concluded. Even combined, they lacked the sheer manpower the White Fang could put out. "And your plan for when the cost of Dust skyrockets?"

"Dust isn't a core component in my Hunters. We use it as augmentation to our Semblances. The smaller Dust companies within the other city-states will supply the demand."

"Dust is used as a major component in powering our countries and equipment." I remembered the time the world didn't know the power of Dust. Ozpin remembered it too, when countries went to war for a useless commodity such as crude oil.

"Need drives innovation. We'll learn to make do." She had a plan for this somehow. Perhaps going down the renewable energy track would work this time. Perhaps not.

"And what's to stop me from not granting you the use of my Airships?" She was bluffing. She still had a heart. Summer used Kara's and I used Ozpin's. Sorta.

"The guilt of leaving the Faunus labour camps alone when you had the chance to end it and instill a small measure of equality for them." Kara must've held a large amount of sway with Summer.

Winter chose to bite down a sizable portion of her drink before answering.

"I'm going to need to stash a sizable amount of Dust before this going down from my shadow companies." Summer would no doubt do the same and notify the other heads of Hunters to do the same. "You have my support, but if you think I'm going to let you run havoc alone in my state then you're wrong. We do this together, or not at all."

"Your plan?" Summer had walked her into this nicely, making her think this was all her idea while simultaneously shoring up her losses in an operation of her idea.

"Half and half. Vacuo and Mistral are too small to participate in this type of operation and would result in a need for a larger security net. Vacuo already has security problems within their own Hunters and Mistral could stay away from the political fallout in the event of failure. You take four camps and I take four camps. How do you know there are only eight camps?"

"Our world had eight camps. It's only an assumption for now until we can confirm the information in the event of a discrepancy."

"And where do I take the rescued Faunus?" I hadn't given it much thought but the sheer number they were pulling out from the camp would be a logistical circus show. I was in a circus once.

"You'll take them to the island of Patch where Signal Academy will oversee a refugee camp for the 80,000 potential Faunus before we'll move them to Menagerie for permanent relocation."

"You've secured their relocation to Menagerie?" It was its own autonomous state, agreed by the other four larger states to exist as a lesser fifth member. Reminded me of another country which existed to house criminals and undesirables. Something with an A.

"I plan to establish contact today and meet tomorrow."

Something with an A. Ame. Abe. Acacia. No, that was a tree. Or a berry.

"Send me a detailed report of the operation and my part in it if Ghira Belladonna accepts." Seemed Winter was on board with the plan, and by the looks of Ozpin and James, so were they.

America. No. That wasn't it, but it was fun watching them self destruct. I definitely didn't have a part in that. Probably.

"Well then. Vale and Atlas are renewing their alliance. A toast." Ozpin lifted his last few drops of cocoa as everyone else lifted a flask, bottle, or bowl of ice cream.

Aus. Austria. Yes, that sounded about right. The land of the convicts and criminals.

"I do have one issue with you Summer." My partner gave the go ahead to ask. "You're not entirely there, are you?"

Summer let a positively rapturous smile break across her face, her silver eye replicating Ozpin's twinkle. Okay, that was creepy. She shouldn't be able to replicate it so perfectly.

"Have no doubt in my capabilities as a leader or Hunter, Winter Ironwood. It might be the last action you take." Great. She was getting in the same habit of Ozpin; not giving direct answer. I caught myself. This persona was starting to bleed into me. Acting.

Winter couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine as she stared at Summer's void of an eye. She would be annihilated if Summer ever found reason for it, but I doubted she would. Just a feeling.

"Was this the extent of my meeting here with you?" Ozpin and Summer had nothing else to talk to her about the operation. "Then I'm off to spend time with my sister. Come on James."

The General followed behind her like an abandoned puppy finally being adopted. I blinked as a surge of memories flooded in. Ozpin had done the same for me those many years ago.

"Qrow, what do you know about the late Roman Torchwick's partner, Neopolitan?" Ozpin broadcast an image of my regular form onto the monitor.

"She's a tiny sadist with a penchant for ice cream. She excels at outsmarting and evading authorities with her illusions and hasn't been seen since the Invasion of Beacon." Flattered, but that was a poor description of me. Anyone who got two glances at me could tell the same information. "Wanted for grand theft in every city-state. Why?"

My assassinations had gone unnoticed by even the spymaster of Vale and all of his little birds. Not to mention arson, assault, extortion, grand larceny and the impersonation of a Vale Hunter Captain.

"Summer wasn't entirely truthful when she said we had a Hunter who could impersonate the CSO's undersecretary."

"We don't have enough money to acquire her services." Qrow was quick to catch on. "She's a mercenary and a loose end."

"She's our best option at getting the information we need in the time frame we have." I was going to enjoy this job.

"And your plan to convince her to get the correct information we need, not to mention find her?"

"We already found her. She's been in this room since before Winter arrived." Qrow froze, scanning the room intently. "You did mention her penchant for ice cream."

Everyone, including Summer, turned to stare at me as I sucked ice cream off my spoon, innocently flicking my tongue out to savor the flavour. This part was all vanilla and strawberry.

"Kara, anything you wish to share with us?" Nova disengaged the safeties on her gauntlets and slid rounds into them. Damn. Summer didn't notify her teammates. Well played, but still a testament to my skill. Though in their defense, both Kara and I being mutes didn't help.

Summer pressed a hand into my illusory head and shattered my body, revealing the form I most commonly wore in public; my pink, brown and white one. Qrow made a move towards me, but before he could, Ozpin whacked him hard over the head, dispelling the notion.

"Ow, Ozpin. Seriously?" Qrow rubbed the growing bruise. "You learn a threat's in the same room as you and you hit me. Priorities man."

"She's here as Summer's guest, or have you not realized Summer was the one to break the illusion?"

"And her loyalty?" I squeezed Summer's hand in reassurance. She was mine and he would see how far my loyalty went during this war.

"Mine, for now." Summer would be in the firing line if I ever defected but she was my newest companion. Salem couldn't tear me from her.

"And you're fine helping us out for this operation?" Qrow asked me directly and I nodded my head enthusiastically, causing Ozpin to narrow his eyes. Summer had promised to let me loose for the second part of the operation; the destruction of the labour camps.

"I'll forward her the needed information as we get it. Winter will let me know when the best time to retrieve the information comes around."

"Keep her out of trouble." Me? Just because I had a track record didn't mean I was going to ruin their fun. Where would I get my fun from then?

"No promises. You know your job?"

 _Impersonate the undersecretary to the CSO of the SDC and retrieve the number and location of the labour camps they control._

"Correct." Qrow looked lost at my form of communication. "We'll take care of dosing our target. You'll have the job of entering an SDC facility and cloning the computer with Kara's programs."

"Who is where exactly?" Don't worry, I didn't hurt her.

"Bundled up in our room, cursing her computer while she debugs her code. Then pacing, hitting the wall, and smashing her head into the keyboard when it doesn't work." She knew her well. "Not necessarily in that order."

"Hmm." Ozpin didn't reply. "When are you planning to steal the information?" Ugly word; steal. We were borrowing and making public to ourselves pieces of information which should be public but would destroy Atlas' individual right's policy if it was, which was still shaky from the whole 'show no emotions' fascist regime they had.

Amateurs.

While it was the correct answer to suppressing the birth of Grimm, it didn't actually squash emotions. It kept them bottled up and out of sight and spawned more Grimm because of the people's inability to express themselves.

They eventually fixed their problems but I had managed to reign free for a few months unnoticed before they eventually caught on to me. Poor Atlesian General; I had to ditch the original tee I had. How did Bianca get away with wearing so much white?

"This weekend at the latest or whenever the undersecretary decides to go drinking." I'd have to clear my calendar. Not that I actually kept one. "Not tomorrow hopefully."

I tugged at Summer's hand again, asking her why not.

"Menagerie." Oh right. "And I can't take you. I have to take Team RWBY with me."

I'd have to busy myself somehow until the weekend then. I'd make Ozpin earn those headaches. One of which was starting now as I could imagine Ozpin imagining the shenanigans I would get up to as I waited for Summer to call for me.

 _You're mine after tomorrow._

"Try not to destroy any depots or accidentally kill someone." I snorted. Nothing I did was accidental. Unless it was meant to be accidental, but then it wasn't accidental, was it? A dilemma for another time.

"I can spar tonight, if you want?" Exactly my line of thoughts.

"Not on campus." Ozpin got his final word on it.

 _And what will you be doing until then?_

"Working on paperwork." Summer then looked over to Ozpin. "Unless I have anything needing my attention?"

"No. As agreed, I'll handle the administrative side of the Hunters while you'll handle the frontline. Unless you want to handle the administrative side?"

"Send me all the paperwork you have." Ozpin furrowed his eyebrows. "I do quite enjoy the mundane task. You, on the other hand, are taking a vacation."

"Afraid I'll usurp your authority?" He stirred his mug carefully. His face betrayed nothing and neither were his emotions. He wasn't one of us, not by far, but he could hide from me just as well.

"Ozpin, while I much enjoy being your figurehead on Beacon, I'd much prefer if you were mine. Both of us splitting duties will only accomplish you undermining me, or me undermining you." She really didn't mince word when she didn't have to.

"Mah, mah, I can tell when I'm not wanted." He rose from his chair, snagging his cane as he made his way around his desk to stand in front of Summer. Ozpin could crush her without lifting his finger and Summer very well knew he could. "Glad to see the power hasn't gone to your head."

"Don't look so glum. I'm not leaving you without anything to do as my other second-in-command. You'll be in charge of the temporary refugee camp on Patch. You still have access to all the funds and materials as if you were still in charge. Just send me an invoice so I can do inventory properly."

"As you command, milady." Summer's bottom lip twitched in annoyance. If he started speaking in an old dialect then I was going to kick his shins. Painfully. He could do much worse, such as speak in the forgotten and dead languages before the world was unified to use one language.

"You'll come back after the operation and when I've established my command properly. I'll make time to come visit and brief you about the situations and I'll even bring Neo to alleviate your boredom."

I smiled. He smiled. Summer smiled. We all knew Ozpin didn't get bored. He'd create his own mischief when life became stale. And I usually caused enough mischief in his stead to help him.

"Do I get to keep my spymaster or are you acquisitioning him as well?"

"I need him to keep track of the undersecretary." Qrow nodded his head. "You have today off. Spend some time with Ruby and Yang, but tomorrow, you're going to Atlas with Winter."

"Do I have to?" Qrow whined pitifully. "Why do I have to go with her? I can take my own bullhead."

"Because you need more friends." Summer replied dryly. "Winter will be good for you."

"The season or the person?" He couldn't resist the quip. Summer stared back, unblinking. "Do I get to be the lucky one informing her I'll be traveling with her?"

"Of course." A sinister smirk cracked her face. "For your duration of your stay with Winter, you're my proxy. If she wants help, you help. You have the authorization at the level of a Captain. I want Atlas as my closest ally when this world goes south."

Qrow shivered under Summer's malicious grin. She was dancing with her words this time. She didn't care if Qrow actually acted as a proxy. She wanted him with Winter. She was playing matchmaker.

Not my choice of entertainment, but everyone had their own. Ozpin enjoyed micromanaging, Summer enjoyed her own shenanigans and I enjoyed accidentally wiping civilizations. One of these things just didn't belong here. How dare Ozpin micromanage.

"I'll take my leave. Try to behave." Ozpin directed this last part to me as he stepped into the elevator, Qrow following him. "And make sure to tell Glynda not to panic when she realises I'm not here."

"I'm sure she'll understand from the communiqué ready to be sent from your desk."

"My sweet child, I have absolutely no idea what you mean." Ozpin innocently answered back and thumbed the close button, isolating him from any further inquiries.

Summer wrapped around Ozpin's former desk and pull up the primary monitor. It no longer displayed an image of me, but an important memo ready to be sent to every major Hunter base along their secure channels.

I skimmed the lines briefly. The memo itself wasn't long but it was densely packed with information, stating Ozpin was stepping down from his post and installing Summer Rose as his replacement. He gave no reason to his resignation and no reason for his appointeé, but he specifically stated Summer wasn't replacing him as Headmaster of Beacon; she was rising to the rank of High Commander, above his station.

Most of the Hunters wouldn't care who lead them during a time of peace, but the specific appointment of a High Commander would set every Hunter on edge as they prepared themselves for any coming conflict. The Hunters in training; Beacon's students, wouldn't yet understand what the role of High Commander meant. The upper years might.

Summer needed the next weeks to ensure they understood who was in charge and make an impression on her new underlings. With Ozpin out of the picture and an operation to plan, she had only one chance to get this right.

Summer read the memo but made no changes and signed her name, adding in the clearance codes needed to broadcast the message across the country. Her own codes declared her as the High Commander and Ozpin's codes, already attached, meant no one could dispute it.

Her scroll beep furiously as message after message poured into it after she pressed the send button.

"Glynda's on her way here." Summer declared without bothering to check her scroll. "Neo."

I reapplied my disguise, slipping into the body and reattached the mirroring network. It was like slipping into a pair of jeans. Qrow watched in fascination as I impersonated the Faunus. Bianca and Nova scrutinized my form, looking for any discrepancy in my disguise.

They found none.

Perfect timing as Glynda stormed into the office pulling Ozpin by his ear. At a height disadvantage to his deputy, he was forced to bend awkwardly at an angle. Qrow had miraculously managed to escape her.

"Explain." Glynda pointed to Summer sitting at Ozpin desk filling out whatever form passed her way. She wasn't bored, but neither was she motivated. Perhaps that was the secret to paperwork; the inability to get bored.

That didn't explain Ozpin's ability to finish it with ease. Roman never gave me paperwork after I incinerated it and a few tons worth of cargo to escape. He didn't even begrudge me burning the cargo. He never gave me paperwork again.

"I'm retired Glynda." Summer snorted, fixing a line she erred on. "Yell at her. She's in charge now."

"You're about as retired as Qrow isn't a functioning alcoholic." Qrow took no offense to Summer's remark, sipping at his seemingly endless supply of drink. It was usually the other way around, but the spymaster never seemed to be completely sober. Too many demons in his past.

Consequences of the job.

I had the benefit of donning fresh identities to run from mine and I eventually forgot about them or they all died out. It was the primary reason why Ozpin frequently lost track of me.

"You're getting back in your seat. You're not even fifty." I snorted inwardly at that. I'm sure Ozpin didn't even remember his own age. "And what is this nonsense about a High Commander?"

"By Summer's gracious forethought, she decided to retire me early as she prepares for the operation against the Schnee Dust Corporation." Glynda started but remembered who exactly she was dealing with, letting him continue. "You and all relevant parties will soon receive a dossier detailing all aspects of the plan."

"Which I've been working on for a while and am putting the finals touches on." Summer finished for him. "It'll be sent out by sundown today, while also explaining what the role of a High Commander dictates."

"And I'm not getting any answers before then?"

"Not even if you use your fuzzy handcuffs and your whip." Glynda Goodwitch became my new favourite person as she failed to hide her blush and her emotions reflected she wasn't faking. Where did Ozpin manage to hide her? She didn't even attempt to refute it.

No one else in the room reacted to her. I was the only one out of the loop then which mean it was pointless using it as blackmail, even before factoring the knowledge of the people in this room.

"While Ozpin is busy overseeing his part of the operation, you're to remain on campus as interim Headmaster. Your duties as a professor will be taken over by Bianca." The aforementioned Hunter nodded her head at her orders.

"This is very sudden." Glynda grimaced at the sheer pace Summer and Ozpin were moving at, figuring out this operation must be major it they were splitting up parts. "I'll send Bianca my classes and their syllabi."

Her acceptance of their plans had mostly to do with Ozpin not actually retiring. Hunters never retired. They moved sections, rose in ranks, demoted, but never retired. Servitude until death, in any form or capacity, as macabre as that sounded. I suspected James' continuation as an advisor had everything to do with such a mindset.

"This office is yours until Ozpin returns." She had planned this. She knew Ozpin would leave a memo to be sent out, knew Glynda would catch him on his way out and knew Ozpin would be forced to return here to explain himself, however briefly.

The only question now was how Ozpin would reply. He wasn't going to let this slight go. He finally had a chance to spar with an equal in manipulation and planning. I shuddered; they would be a worse duo than Roman and I ever were. Remnant would fall to its knees if Salem didn't wipe it out first.

At least when I did it I didn't annihilate the people. I enjoyed tearing the structure, the very fabric of their governments to shreds. A political assassination here, inciting a riot there, manufacture propaganda over there and impersonate a few civil servants not far from here.

I left fragments. Salem left nothing.

"I'm leaving any relevant paperwork for you at this desk. I'm taking my paperwork to my room. Enjoy." Summer mustered as much sincerity as she could. A small spark jumped in her core.

"I hate you." Glynda bit back, but straightened her glasses and replaced Summer at the desk, preparing herself for the grueling task of managing the school. She had much less to do now with Summer performing the overarching duty above hers.

"I'll send James up later." Glynda only grunted as she delved into the paperwork, her mind regressing into boredom. Why was it even called paperwork when everything was digitized? I assumed calling it 'digitalwork' sounded less catchy. At least James would help her with his lack of duties to his own Hunters.

Those two shared more sexual tension than any other couple I've seen in the recent past, but nothing could beat the amount I glimpsed between Qrow and Winter. You could cut it with a butter knife.

Summer ushered me gently to the elevator, her touch just gentle enough to not pierce the fine membrane of my illusion. Her Aura resonated well enough with mine to prevent any interference. I could feel mine pulse along her hand and no doubt she could feel it as well if I read the faint tingle of amusement from her.

The rest of her team and Ozpin followed us, leaving Glynda trapped in an endless cycle of paperwork, her only relief being whenever James decided to help her.

"You'll get your fight right before sundown when I finish with my paperwork." Summer broke the silence as they stepped out of the elevator into the empty lobby. It was eerily quiet as the main hub of international communication, but the Hunters were always known to act independently when not given explicit orders. I was just satisfied she remembered. "I have something for you in our room Oz."

Great. She was giving him nicknames now.

A familiar feeling of Summer's Semblance wrapped around us and we propelled forward through the campus traffic, barely touching the ground before Summer pressured us onward.

In what seemed seconds and probably was, the five of us stood on a white glyph outside their room. I stamped my foot on the glyph, but nothing came of it. It was durable if it could hold five people on it.

Without fanfare, Summer slipped into the room. A lump sat on a bed, barely moving as hands emerged from the blankets wrapped around it. The hands tapped away at a keyboard quickly before a finger wiped a line with the backspace, twitching as iteration after iteration of her code ran into errors.

"Comfy?" The lump didn't react to the presences in the room, too engrossed in her screen filled with multicoloured lines and semicolons. Her ears wiggled in greeting, hands occupied with fixing and optimizing her code, flying across the keys.

Summer scratched her ears in return, Kara's hands momentarily pausing as pleasure scorched through her body. Her ears playfully batted the hands away, keeping their owner focused on her work.

She was left alone as Summer lifted a box from under the desk and handed it to Ozpin. Brightly decorated in shades of white and blue, it depicted a cup of steaming cocoa with tiny marshmallows floating in it.

Lies.

There were no tiny marshmallows. Ozpin had sent me to investigate the fraud committed by the company and I delivered a sad report about the fallacies of advertisement and enticement.

It didn't stop his enjoyment of the hot chocolate; just dampened it without the presence of marshmallows.

Summer produced a pack of mini marshmallows from under the desk as well, handing it to Ozpin. It was the best retirement package he had ever received, and I had seen him accept plenty. His short vacation would be a cocoa fueled extravaganza of comfort as he directed the setup of the refugee camp.

He disappeared out into the hallway with his severance packages under his arm, a merry step in his walk.

The High Commander shut the door and settled into a desk, her scroll projecting across the surface to display window upon window of paperwork. And she wasn't pawning it off to Bianca or Nova. It was definitely the inability to get bored which kept her going.

Then why did I so violently react to paperwork? Summer was nothing more than an infant compared to me yet she could handle it perfectly fine. When had my facade become an integral part of myself?

When did a facade stop being a facade and become real?

Memory upon memory swirled in my head, tinged with the emotions of Neo. Neo wasn't suppose to be real. She was a disguise, my longest lasting one, but a fake nonetheless. I had grown accustomed to her, donning her fabricated profile as my own, molding it, growing into it.

Who was I?

Flashbacks struck me. Locked memories clashed with my present ones, triggering a massive recall.

No one.

I was no one.

A hand sent goosebumps running up my arm before grabbing my wrist and pulling me down to sit on the bed. The lump on the bed had closed her laptop halfway, abandoning her task for the while.

 _Identity crisis?_

 _Get out of my head._ I scowled at her infuriatingly kind smile.

 _Summer struggles with it too. She wonders who she is as memories bleed it from her time before her imprisonment._

 _My problem isn't a lack of identity; it's the creation of one._ Kara didn't respond, only extending the blanket she was wrapped to cover me. _If I can't remember who I once was, and neither can Ozpin, then who am I really?_

 _The first approach we tried with Summer was the recreation of her identity before she had it stripped from her, but none of us could fill in the exact details of her personality. The small quirks, the eating habits, thoughts process, etc. So instead of creating a person, we guided Summer with our morals, teaching her what was right and wrong based on our life experiences. She still misses some obvious points, but she's much better than the shell she once was._

 _She's basically a combination of the three of you then?_ Kara copied one of my weird head nods and shakes, settling for a mix of the two.

 _It wasn't easy. We had your counterpart for reference but there wasn't much to go on since you had long ago passed the phase of a lack of identity and moved on to choosing which one. Summer had nothing except for us._

 _You built her a new profile, letting Summer fill in the details instead of giving her a preset, guiding her to parts of her old self from which she could extrapolate her own decisions._

 _And a High Commander was born. A perfect machine for leading the Hunters. Summer was crafted as a paragon; the epitome of leadership. So tell me. Who is Neo On?_

 _I am no one._

 _No. No one is who you and Summer truly are, but Neo On is a personality. She loves ice cream, playing with her illusions, and causing havoc. Summer Rose and Neo On are primary identities. They are echoes of your past selves, emulations as you put it. They are and aren't who you are, if that makes any sense._

 _You're saying Neo On is an echo of my true self._

 _Yes. We couldn't get rid of Summer's love for strawberries or her family, just as time can't get rid of you._

 _And you know this to be true?_

 _No._ Her smile turned mischievous. _But it's what I've observed from my time with Summer._

 _Hmm._ I gave no further questions and sank into my mind, my body enjoying the warmth provided by another, snuggling up to her as she returned to work on her code. Kara had brought a point I hadn't considered since my transformation. Summer and I did emulate, we remembered and didn't feel, but it didn't dilute who we once were.

Kara's view on me meant Neo On existed before her official creation and running through my previous disguises, there were similarities. There was always ice cream and there was always Ozpin. They were the constants in the facades we wore.

I had at least one answer to who I was. Another was the quasi-friendship I had with Ozpin. He always seemed to manage to find me, no matter which disguise I had on when he did.

I was whoever I decided to be. I had control over me, and only I had it. Who I helped and who I screwed over was up to me. Summer was on the list of people I helped irrevocably, which included her team. Ozpin sat firmly on the fuck with list, and Salem sat on the screw over list.

Over thinking always lead me to these moments of self doubts.

My bed companion twitched irritably as she smashed the backspace key and deleted an entire section.

 _Can I help?_ I didn't have much experience with programming but Roman had spent long hours in similar positions and draining enormous amounts of coffee. Shame he was gone, but he did use me as a rubber duck for his problems.

 _Maybe. Because I can't underestimate the complexity of the defenses of the SDC, I can't focus on a specific target and have to make a broad spectrum attack, which includes dictionary, brute force, and a rainbow table._ I nodded my head along. Roman had explained this process to me many times. _My only problem is the run time, as it could take several months to crack the passwords and you'll have a few hours._

 _Roman always added the generic passwords to the beginning of his dictionary attacks such as guest, password, admin, password without the o. You know, the ones no one expects a multi-million Lien corporation to use. You'd be surprised how often it worked._

 _I would love it if it worked but I can't just assume it will. What makes this entire process more annoying is that I don't have the proper structure to test the code against. I can only siphon so much from Beacon's server farms for my tests and I'm still getting hours of runtime in my test cases. You'll have a fraction of the processing power I have right now._

 _I can always torture the undersecretary for information._ Kara quirked her lips.

 _Can't get rid of him and can't mark him. Discretion is key, which continues to complicate my problems as I need to search the security system for videos of you entering and wipe them selectively. I'm not going to have much free time for these next two weeks, but I swear if the password is stupidly generic, someone will die._

I could help her and perform my own reconnaissance in an attempt to both stave off my own boredom and help her. I could leave it as a surprise or I could notify Summer of my plans.

Which brought a nagging thought to the front of my mind. Summer's last name was Rose and I couldn't put it out of my mind. I had definitely heard the name before.

 _Why does the name Summer Rose sound familiar?_ Kara noticeably stopped her typing but the ligaments in the fingers tensed before relaxing.

 _Summer Rose was Ruby Rose's mother before she was captured and tortured by the White Fang for her hereditary secondary Semblance sometime fifteen years ago._

Oh.

That's why her name was familiar.

I was the one sent to capture her.

* * *

Thought I would try something different and decided doing a chapter from Neo's point of view would be entertaining. I've also stopped watching RWBY onwards from Volume 3. I know nothing about Volume 4 or 5 and had to search up Cinder's condition after the battle. Everything I've crafted so far is without their influence, but I'm constantly surprised when my roommate confirms some of my predictions.


	9. Nine - Facades

Chapter Nine

* * *

 **Facades**

* * *

 _Beacon - Room 2117 - 1900_

Neo jerked awake when Summer's chair scraped across floor as she push out from her desk and stood up.

She had fallen into a limbo state, not fully awake, but lost so entirely in thought she wasn't acutely aware of her surroundings. Kara hadn't minded sharing the bed or her blanket with the comatose mercenary; she made good company.

Bianca had somehow slipped from her place on her bed, her upper half dangling off the edge of her bed as she read her book while upside-down. Nova kept her anchored with her legs as she intermittently jotted pieces of information in a manila folder.

Seeing her leader work out the kinks in her body prompted Nova to move her own legs, letting Bianca slump onto her shoulders, no longer having the leverage necessary to remain on the bed. She had had a helluva ab workout.

Rolling backwards with as much grace as she could in her situation, she fixed her unruffled appearance and whacked Nova over her head with her book, expressing her displeasure. Nova didn't react at all, smiling back cheekily as she finished making notes and annotations for Serenity.

"Ready?" Summer asked Neo, who was still somewhat lost in her own world, staring through Summer, not a single thought passing through her mind. Summer could make out traces of apprehension and fear on the usually blank or mischievous assassin's face.

Whether or not these were real, Summer couldn't tell. Neo had had a much longer time to practice copying expressions than she had had.

Neo nodded, untangling herself from the mass of blanket draped on her, affixing it back around her bedmate. Kara wiggled her shoulders and head, her part of the blanket pooling around her, as she saved her progress on her work and closed her laptop.

 _Where are we going?_

"We'll go a few clicks east to ease Ozpin's nerves and prevent any interference." Summer removed her long sleeved tee and replaced it with a crimson tank top, letting the scars along her arm show.

Hunters usually didn't need to wear armoured clothing. Jaune and Team CRDL were the only first year Hunters who wore armour when not wearing their uniforms, but even graduates refused to wear armour, citing it hindered movement while providing less pdsrotection than Aura could.

She refastened her vambraces back onto her forearms, sliding her now one blade into her left one, the other currently in the possession of Pyrrha. Her blades were only used whenever she couldn't use Crescent Rose, and barring any skirmishes in enclosed spaces, they almost never got used.

She had tried dual wielding Crescent Rose and one of her blades before, but any advantage gained from having a knife in her off hand was lost when the immense weight of the scythe couldn't be handled properly in one hand.

 _Everyone else coming too?_

"An unannounced guest is coming with us." Summer opened the door before the person on the other side could knock. "Qrow."

"Summer." The spymaster stood with his broadsword attached to his back. "Where you going?"

"You know where. Here to satisfy your curiosity?"

"More like supervise." Qrow shrugged. Bianca and Nova derisively laughed at him. "What's so funny?"

"The lowly A-rank spymaster who hasn't seen active combat in several months is going to supervise two S-rank psychopaths in their prime?" Qrow shuffled uncomfortably, not realizing his folly. "You're here to watch? Then say so."

"Fine. I'm here to watch." Bianca and Nova shared another laugh at his expense. "Okay, now what?"

"There isn't going to be much to see. You're talking about a spar between the High Commander of Vale, the Hunter who regularly breaks the sound barrier, and a master illusionist. It'll be over in seconds."

"They why are you all going?"

"I'm going to mitigate the environmental damage and Nova and Kara are going to make sure there's someone to carry them back afterwards. I'm predicting a mutual knockout within three seconds."

 _Don't worry. I have plans to make it last much longer._

Qrow was the only one who couldn't understand the ice cream addict.

"I wasn't planning on a workout." Summer stood next to Neo, resting her elbow on her head.

 _You wound me. Only the best for a kindred soul._

"Let's go then." Summer palmed a few of her shells into her leg pouches and attached her folded scythe to her back. Even in its collapsed state, the body of the scythe covered her entire back. Neo simply held onto her rapier, playing with the grip in apprehension. She rarely had the chance to test herself, the last real test she had had been fifteen years previous.

Qrow was the odd man out now as Summer wrapped her Semblance around her team and her guests. His Aura reacted violently to having hers drape itself around him, his Semblance activating to cause him to slip on an imaginary banana peel and fall to the floor.

"How did you even manage to become a Hunter with your Semblance?" Nova pulled her uncle up from the floor.

"It was all Raven's idea." Qrow groaned out as his Semblance released its grip on him. "She was the one who dragged me along to get stronger."

"Funny how it was her who left the Hunters and you who stayed then." Nova supplied.

 _Raven Branwen?_ Summer nodded. _I met her on the train the White Fang rigged to transport Grimm into the districts. She prevented me from killing Yang._

"What'd she say?"

"She said she met Raven before and was prevented from killing Yang."

"And I'm supposed to trust this psychopath?" Neo smiled creepily back at him. "She tried to kill you/Yang and she's working with you now?"

 _Nothing personal; it was a job. And you survived. Brownie points to you._

"Only because my mother deemed it necessary to interfere." Nova mumbled under her breath. "Some redemption points for her. She says it was nothing personal."

"Uh uh. Right. Alright little psychopaths, show me what you can do."

"Is your Semblance going to freak out again or will you force us to run unassisted?" Summer let her Semblance envelope Qrow at a much slower pace, letting him get used to the feeling of a foreign presence assisting, rather than harming him.

Qrow never had the best of luck using his Semblance, which spoke to the sheer level of talent he possessed to have clawed his way to the top of the hierarchy using only pure Aura usage. If he could just harness his volatile Semblance, then he'd easily sit next to them as a proper A-rank, rather than the augmented role he received as a master of information. His knowledge made him dangerous.

"I think I can suppress my Semblance enough to get where we need to." Summer, instead of letting her Semblance blanket her team autonomously, paid careful attention to how it interacted with Qrow's. His Semblance didn't like constraint and lived off chaos. It didn't matter who it affected, just that it could affect someone. Qrow had an uphill battle to fight if he ever was going to learn to control it.

Summer pressed open the window, leaping off an already prepared glyph, courtesy of Bianca. Her Semblance guided everyone else to follow her, pulling them along or be forced to escape the slipstream.

Everyone followed as Summer cleared the precipice of the roof and briefly waited for them before launching forward towards the east, bouncing off Bianca's glyphs as she accelerated their group.

Neo hadn't even needed to cast an illusory body around her as they easily reached the speed of sound, sufficiently blurring her enough to not get noticed by anyone on the ground. Oddly enough, their vision was perfect while they were inside Summer's deflection shield, with only a slight shimmer marking the boundary between safety and devastatingly sharp wind.

Moving at such a speed exponentially shortened their travel time. What would have taken civilians several days of slogging through the the immense deciduous trees and their undergrowth, was cut down to seconds with the liberal use of Bianca's and Summer's Semblances.

Their bounds covered hundred of meters and kilometers flew by them before Summer slowly retracted her Semblance back, slowing them.

A vast clearing, bare of even the smallest rock, sat cramped between the start of the Northern Sanus Mountains and the Redwood Forests that encapsulated Vale. It was far enough from Beacon to not attract any attention from the massive Aura output that would soon be going through the area.

The petite assassin disengaged from her group and took a stand across the clearing, brandishing her rapier and bowing in her usual manner. This wasn't a fight for her. Nothing was. Everything was a dance and Summer was her partner for this act.

The rest of the group hung back as Summer met her on the battlefield, standing on a glyph at half the height of the redwoods. At this height, they were spots of red and pink standing out against the evergreen grass in the coming dusk. At the perfect height to observe the battle, but far enough to where handsigns could be misconstrued.

 _You ready?_ Neo didn't look ready as she stood nonchalantly, twirling and playing with her rapier. Distinctive patterns of banding and mottling, reminiscent of flowing water, shimmered in the sunlight as she cut the air around her. A technique of forging steel long lost.

 _I'll be ready when you tell me why you looked at me with fear and apprehension back in the room._ Summer switched to handsigns, scythe still stowed on her back, keeping her team in the dark about their exchange. _You know enough about my abilities from Ruby to form a strategy against me, just as I know enough about you to form my own. What's on your mind?_

 _Your name. There was once a Hunter with the same name. Same hair, similar color scheme and exotic silver eyes._ Summer let her continue, not saying a word. _I killed her._

 _Why do you remember her name?_ Summer didn't visibly react to her confession.

 _You're not mad, or vengeful?_

 _You know we can't get mad._ Summer's team and father started wondering what the holdup was, but they were too far to read their conversation and dropping in altitude would make their eavesdropping obvious. _Why do you remember her name?_

 _The mission was out of the ordinary from my usual assignments which varied from political assassinations to forgeries. I don't question contracts, especially when the bounty is in the several millions, but Summer Rose was an oddity. She had no ties to the council, no leverage over Ozpin and wasn't privy to sensitive information. The client wanted her alive, but her death faked as an attack from Grimm._ Neo monologued, voice losing her cadence to copy Summer's. _I ambushed her while she was hunting for food, using my illusions to fool her into thinking she was being attacked by Grimm while I slipped my rapier into her shoulder, disabling her weapon arm and then knocked her out. I manipulated the scene to show claw marks and skids, tearing her cloak to shreds and scattering her blood around._

 _Why do you remember her name?_ Summer repeated for the third time. Neo was dancing around the point. _Fifteen years is a long time to remember a dead woman's name, but you remember._

 _I remember because she was wanted alive, because there was nothing remotely extraordinary in her file, because the client refused to tell me their reasons and I haven't found a single scrap of information since._

Summer smiled.

 _I'll tell you why after our spar. It was for the same reason why I was captured and brainwashed for six months, leaving me as I am._

 _Summer…_ Neo's confident smirk tore her face in half. _The battle started the very moment we entered this clearing._

A burst of blood appeared from Summer's thigh, drenching her leg muscles with a thick flow of crimson. Nothing around the clearing suggested Neo had moved; no rustled grass, no soft footfalls, no air displacement, no ring of steel. She remained in her spot, the tip of her blade now gleaming red.

Summer seared the thin but deep wound shut with Aura, adding another mark to her body. Pain was nothing new to her and was welcome as it let her feel. It was the easiest foreign stimulus available in any environment and she enjoyed the rush of endorphins compared to the endless nothing.

"Harvest." Neo recoiled as a scythe ruptured her shoulder. It had been so long since anyone had truly managed to injure her beyond simple bruises and scratches. The injury sent ripples of illusion careening across her form as she struggled to reassert enough control for it to stabilize. She sealed her wound similarly and blanketed it with her Semblance, revealing a torn top and uninjured skin. Only she knew how many scars laced her body.

 _I liked my top._ She inspected the fabric briefly before the air around the clearing shimmered, saturated by her Aura. Qrow was forced to his knees as it washed over him, the oppressive amount invading his Aura network, causing it to fluctuate. An ancient redwood fell a hundred meters away.

The High Commander joined her in her display of power, matching it easily. While the clearing looked unchanged from the moment they walked onto it, every bit of wildlife scattered away from it, including a nest of Grimm fifty clicks away. Their survival instincts kicked in, screaming at them to escape and never return to the area.

The combined output crashed into Beacon, hundreds of kilometers away, causing everyone to jump at the oppressive presence coming from the east. A single, combined presence of two indistinguishable Auras struck terror into everyone.

"This... is the power… of an S-rank?" Qrow choked out, struggling back to his feet, unable to tear his gaze away from the two titans facing off.

Before Glynda could call a state of emergency and dial for Ozpin and Summer, the Aura vanished. She chalked it up to the stress of paperwork and scrubbed her memories of the feeling, nudging James to continue his shoulder rub.

An enormous sonic boom blasted through the clearing, stripping the redwoods of their leafs and sending dirt, grass and chunks of earth flying. Bianca protected her group from the worst of it, diverting the shockwave and debris away.

Bianca was wrong in her prediction of the fight lasting three seconds.

Summer tore through illusion after illusion, covering herself with reflective fragments of faux environments as she zeroed in on her opponent. Neo knew it was pointless trying to terrify Summer with images of conventional horror and resorted to subtly shifting trees, slightly raising ground, and adding false copies of herself. Anything to throw Summer off from her perceived environment.

It worked long enough. She only needed a scant few milliseconds to pierce her abdomen and leave a gaping wound trailing across her back.

In retaliation, Summer raked Neo across her front and slammed her brutally into the ground, only to watch as her form shattered. She had definitely drawn blood as a fine mist caked her weapon.

Neo's advantage with her illusions was stripped away against an opponent who could react and move faster than she could. She couldn't do damage through her illusions and had to rely on her physical form, letting Summer use the brief moment of true appearance to return every blow dealt.

For every hit Neo landed, Summer would land one before the two disengaged, only to clash again in the next few milliseconds.

The cost of maintaining such a speed to counter Neo's illusionary prowess wore Summer down, but the cost of creating illusions to defend and attack from did the same to Neo.

300 milliseconds; Bianca was off by a factor of ten.

The smoke and mirrors from the battlefield cleared to reveal the two fighters with satisfied smiles plastered across their faces, locked in combat.

They were both passed out, keeping each other standing.

Neo had her rapier driven through Summer's right palm, a feat no one else had ever accomplished. Summer boasted several more holes in her body and limbs, each slowly sealing shut as her body worked overtime.

Neo wasn't in any better condition. Summer's previous slash against her midsection reopened, soaking her slacks a deeper brown. Her arms had slashes going down them as well and Shadow's twin was lodged in her shoulder.

A silence descended around them, prompting their audience to descend from their perch and run damage control.

"What the fuck was that?"

"Were you expecting anything else? We warned you it would be fast, explosive and anticlimactic." Nova gently pulled the dueling pair apart, noting most of their wounds had sealed shut already, their critical reserves working overtime. Summer curled into Nova, latching onto her sister, recognizing her presence.

Kara caught Neo on her way down and the tiny woman grabbed onto her, feeling comfortable enough to rest in her arms.

"I couldn't see any bit of the fight. All I saw was debris and shattered glass." Qrow wanted to fawn over Summer's injuries, but nothing was bleeding anymore. "It was over when I blinked my eyes."

"We could barely keep track of them." Bianca inspected the two for any life threatening injuries, but found none. "Summer broke the sound barrier and Neo wasn't even visible for most of it."

Considering it lasted less than a second, it was impressive they saw anything.

"They held back against each other." Bianca noticed, counting the injuries each had placed on the other. Neo had aimed for non-vitals, piercing Summer in her intestines, appendix, spleen, kidney, under her lung and liver.

Summer hadn't bothered with where her strikes landed, aiming in the vague direction of anywhere except for her body, making sure to hold her scythe back from bisecting Neo.

"That was them holding back?" Qrow's eyes widened.

"Now you know the difference between an A-rank and an S-rank." Bianca scooped up Summer and Neo's weapons, attaching the two to following glyphs. "Do you know the worst part about Summer losing consciousness?"

Qrow shook his head before a chilling thought passed through his mind. These five girls had lost their war, and he couldn't even stand in their presence.

"We now have to run to Beacon." Qrow blinked back. "Which is approximately 600 kilometers in that direction."

Bianca pointed vaguely west towards the setting sun. Nothing but trees were visible on the horizon.

"But we only traveled for half an hour." Qrow ran some quick calculations in his head. The landscape had blurred by incredibly quickly on their way here but he paid no attention to the distance they covered. "Which means we were traveling just under the speed of sound."

"Just about." Bianca confirmed his calculations. "I hope you're ready for a nice long run back because it'll take about four hours."

"She couldn't have chosen a closer spot?" Qrow whined, detesting the idea of a four hour jog.

"And risk their combined Aura ripping Beacon and parts of Vale apart?" Nova rhetorically asked as she prepared herself for the long haul home. Qrow grumbled away. "Now shut up and start running."

The three Hunters jumped into the bare tree canopies, bouncing off a glyph, only to land on another as they continued home.

Bianca was kind enough to leave the glyphs up long enough for Qrow to catch up to them.

* * *

 _Beacon - 0000_

They had been forced to stop once on their return trip on account of Qrow lacking Aura to continue at the pressing pace the team set. A five minute breather and a quick recharge from Nova had him back on his feet to continue onwards. She was a godsend for endurance assignments and held the record for longest time spent in active combat at 34 hours. She had stretched herself thin that day, digging deep into her reserves. It took weeks to regain all of her Aura.

It was one of Salem's last efforts to level Remnant before she brought out her Primordials. Wave after wave of Grimm spilled into Vale from the southeast and Team SKBN had been the last Hunters left standing, sending the more tired Hunters away as they bought time for civilians to evacuate.

All it bought was a few weeks before they were forced to abandon their home.

"I've been thinking." Qrow remarked as they landed outside their room.

"Dangerous pastime." Nova couldn't resist the quip as she placed Summer down onto her bed. She was still smiling contently. Qrow slapped her upside the head.

"Their fight was stupidly short; almost laughingly, unbelievably short."

"It was short to us, but to Summer it was painstakingly slow." Nova tried to free her arm from Summer's iron grip, attempting to pry her fingers from around her neck. "While her Semblance deals with acceleration, it isn't limited to bodily acceleration. She regularly uses it to process information faster, allowing her immense amounts of time to make decisions."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Qrow couldn't help but cringe in the hypocrisy of his own Semblance. He was helping Nova peel Summer from her and place her to bed and even retrieved his crowbar, but nothing they did would tear Summer from Nova.

"She put herself in a coma for a day when she tried it the first time." Bianca was helping Kara with a similar situation; Neo wasn't letting go of Kara. "No permanent damage, but this was while she was younger and before her torture."

"What you didn't see was hundreds of actions performed near simultaneously. Each of their strikes had to be calculated enough to do harm, but not kill. At the speeds they were moving, if either screwed up, the other was dead." Bianca gave up with Neo, taking a seat at their desk, leaving Kara to sit on the bed with Neo in her arms. "Neo had to calculate every action Summer could potentially take and create an illusion for each possibility. Summer had to anticipate hers, but at a lower risk due to her Semblance."

"Summer knew she had to incapacitate Neo quickly. At the level she was moving, every action she took took large amounts of Aura, as not only did she have to concentrate on accelerating her body and limbs individually, but she also had to stop her limbs, pouring equal amounts to reverse course or adjust."

"They wasted themselves on an all or nothing battle. Neo couldn't afford to have Summer tear her apart at lower speeds and forced Summer's hand by trapping her in illusion after illusion, creating them as fast as Summer could destroy them, sapping her Aura. If Neo decided to play slower, Summer would destroy the illusions just as quickly, leading her to lose."

"That's absolutely terrifying." Qrow joined Bianca in abandoning Nova and Kara to their fates. "So why didn't Neo just hide and let Summer exhaust herself searching for her?"

"Summer could canvas that clearing in milliseconds, checking where Neo could be at every spot at once. There was no point and Neo anticipated correctly. While it would have drained Summer, Neo would have been a sitting duck for her. Her only option was to meet her as a equal."

It was exactly what the two wanted. A test against each other to see where they stood. Summer had exhausted herself against her own team, only ever being able to win against Kara, and never being able to beat Nova or Bianca after they had reached mastery over their respective Semblances.

Fighting Grimm wasn't the same.

"If Summer uses her Aura at such a fast pace, only able to fight at such a speed for such a short time, then how was she able to keep us traveling at just under the speed of sound for half an hour?"

"We tried to measure Summer's top velocity once, but we stopped counting once she clocked at mach 9. She wouldn't have used anything less against her fight with Neo. Keeping us traveling at not even mach 1 was more boring than taxing, as, once she reaches a level of speed, she barely has to maintain it."

"I repeat. That's absolutely terrifying." The more terrifying tidbit he wasn't quite aware of yet, was that Bianca and Nova outstripped Summer in power ranking, even when considering they shared nothing in common with their Semblances. "So what're going to do about those two parasites?"

"They'll stay here." Qrow waited for her to elaborate but only felt foolish waiting for her, having to point it out. "Neo seems to be comfortable with Kara and Summer will sleep with Nova. I'll go on night patrol."

"Any orders for me before I commit to my _involuntary_ appointment to liaison with Winter?" He understood well his assignment had nothing to do with dealing with Atlas' council, only having to answer to Summer and work with James and Winter.

Bianca flicked him, causing him to scrunch his forehead in irritation. Weiss was much too reserved to flick an adult, especially if said adult had a relation to her team.

"Try to get along. Treat her like a person and don't judge her because she's from Atlas. You might have disagreed with Atlesian soldiers occupying Vale, but that's in the past. James and Ozpin shared control over their forces, much like Summer will with Winter."

"Budget?" A creeping suspicion of despair set onto him. He wasn't assigned this because he could coordinate his little birds with Winter, but because he would purposefully challenge Winter in everything she did, cross referencing everything with Summer and her team. Summer didn't want a yes-man; she wanted a partnership.

"Discretionary, but Winter is specifically in charge of any and all alcohol purchases. I've already set alerts on your account, and if they're tripped, I'll tell Ruby who her real father is and let her loose on you."

He paled incredibly so, matching Bianca's pallor, exacerbated further by his jet black hair.

"I hate you." He rubbed his eyes and cheeks, chasing away his tiredness and waking himself up. "I'll be with her when she leaves in the morning. My replacement and coordinator?"

Kara waved at him, awkwardly freeing an arm from her predicament.

"I'll key you into the server tomorrow." Kara nodded, happy she didn't have to break into another set of servers. "I'll take my leave."

Bianca let him go, closing the door behind him, and moved over to Kara. She removed Neo's necklaces, bolero, gloves, belts and boots, giving her more comfort in her unconscious state. Kara, having not bothered with her usual accessories, slipped them under the sheets, adjusting their positions and drifted off to sleep.

Nova begged Bianca with her amethyst eyes to help her too. She acquiesced, stripping Summer of her vambraces and boots, taking the silver moon from her as well and attaching it to her arm. She left the four to sleep, turning off the lights and closing the window behind her, remembering to drop off the two extra weapons she was carrying as they clinked against the window frame on her way out.

Almost every Hunter was asleep except for those assigned to night patrol and the requisite two teams on standby for any emergencies coming from the districts Beacon governed over.

The chill of the night air ruffled her hair and raised goosebumps, reminding her of missions past spent in Atlas, where the snow would freeze everyone except for her and the long nights of winter would leave them desperate for sun.

Bounding off into the air, she continued along a path of glyphs, slowly making her way to Beacon's tallest tower. If the light shining in the top office was anything to go by, Glynda was still in the office, dutifully working the night away.

Reaching the precipice of the steeple, Bianca stopped her ascent and took in the districts sprawled out underneath her. No matter the time of day, there were enough lights on the draw a distinctive line where Beacon's districts ended and the start of the agricultural districts.

Beyond those sat hundreds of other districts, each devoted to a different part of keeping Vale stable, and at the center of Vale stood the megacity of the Capital districts, where several millions called home. Due to the curvature of Remnant, even on such a clear night, it couldn't be seen.

As she wasn't part of the actual patrol for the night, she settled into a meditative trance, letting her body and mind achieve partial rest as she stood watch on a glyph, the soft glow standing out against the darkness of the unsettled east.

* * *

 _Beacon - 0530_

It was the rising of the sun and the permeation of warmth along her back that told Bianca her watch was over.

All had been quiet during the night except for when a team had been deployed into the districts to deal with Grimm along the border the districts didn't share with Beacon. They had returned within the hour and nothing of note had happened after their return.

Stepping towards the edge of her glyph, she let it disperse, dropping into a freefall past the lip of the tower, the exhilarating feeling of the rushing wind chasing the last of her meditative stillness away. She flipped backwards, smoothly transitioning onto a slide made of her glyphs.

Her slide turned upwards, launching her over the courtyard and towards the canteen. Another set of glyphs carried her further, twisting and curling in creative patterns. Never let it be said she didn't know how to have fun.

Landing outside the kitchens, she was met with the early staff preparing breakfast for the Hunters; the dutiful few who received little to no credit for keeping everyone fed. With Summer's broadcast yesterday, the staff recognized the silver moon attached to her arm, each politely bowing their heads or greeting her with a few words as she passed by them.

She gathered enough ingredients for thirteen servings of smoothies, snatching bananas, strawberries, yogurt, and throwing them into a blender, pureeing one batch before moving onto another. She threw the smoothies into three quart containers, snapping them shut and attaching them to a floating glyph behind her, snagging an entire box of granola bars, and doing the same.

It made for an odd sight as the petite Hunter exited the kitchens with containers of food stuck to glyphs trailing behind her. It was only after she had left, the kitchen staff had realized their High Commander was a Schnee none of them had seen before, but strongly resembled the heiress, Weiss Schnee.

The last task before Bianca returned to her room was to dip into the storeroom and grab a toiletry bag and towel. While it didn't contain much more than the barest essentials, it sure made a Hunter's day when they trudged into base after a grueling mission.

It was the job of the Hunter on night duty to wake up the rest of her team, and there always was at least one member of the High Commander's team on duty, but everyone seemed to already be going through the motions of waking up, years of sunrise wake up calls dredging them from their dreams. Her presence in the room, however, snapped everyone awake.

Summer's eyes met Nova's and Neo's eyes met Kara's.

"Morning" Nova whispered before Summer could question her. "Been awhile since we woke up like this."

"Couple weeks." Summer released her hold, light purple bruises forming from where her arms and hands were placed. "Anything untoward?"

"Like you'd have complained." Nova threw the sheets off, revealing they were both properly clothed. With the sheets no longer constraining her, Summer planted a kiss on Nova's forehead, thanking her for taking care of her in her exhausted state.

Neo lay nestled comfortably under Kara's chin. They stared at each other, neither deeming it necessary to move, their previous experience of sharing a bed removing any awkward moments. As if any existed to begin with as Kara was a seasoned Hunter and Neo couldn't bring herself to care.

Using handsigns, Kara told Neo of her simultaneous knockout with Summer and their return to their room, only to find her inseparable from her carrier and forced to share a bed. She added a small caveat where she hadn't minded too much as she had been comatose for the entire night.

Neo would have a much easier time bonding with Ladybug over Freezerburn. When push came to shove, they couldn't afford not to have Neo on their side.

 _Thank you._ Neo pressed a kiss to Kara's lips, smiling mischievously as she pulled away from her.

"That's the second time you've kissed my wife." Summer ruffled Kara's ears, giving Kara another kiss. "Should I be afraid of you trying to steal her from me, or are you trying to get my attention?" She pushed them further down the bed, sandwiching Neo between them.

A muffled memory resounded in Neo's mind as she remembered when she was a child, crawling into her parent's bed for safety and comfort during a severe thunderstorm. She would have fallen back asleep again if Nova hadn't ripped the sheets from their bed.

"Time to get up." Summer released Neo from one side, standing up. "Unless you don't want us to tell you why you were sent to capture my mother?"

Neo was up faster than Summer, giving her full attention to the High Commander.

"Are you aware at all what happened to Summer after you kidnapped her?" Summer took a seat next to her.

 _No. I delivered her and took my money._

"Summer Rose was a test subject in Salem's bid to cripple humanity's abilities to fight against her Grimm. My eyes, and her eyes, are manifestations of our abilities to push our Semblances past limits." Neo was on the correct side to see her silver one and not the missing one. "At the cost of an eye, I was able to annihilate monstrous Grimm with impunity."

"Her eyes were taken from her by Salem in an attempt to use them against humanity, but they refused to work once taken out of a host. Implanting them back into Summer didn't work and stealing her DNA didn't work either, and as a failed experiment, she was eliminated." Neither Summer nor Nova remembered enough about their mother to feel any hatred against Neo or sorrow at their mother's loss. "I was captured as the next test subject, the last human who carried the genetic code, but instead of trying extract and manipulate the DNA, I was tortured and brainwashed."

 _Instead of giving in to their demands, your mind snapped, regressing you back to your base instincts. You refused to work against your people, to turn your Semblance against humanity, and when your team rescued you, you became the paragon of your thoughts, the perfect Hunter._

"One of the many problems we ran into with her rehabilitation was her inability to tell how to be the perfect Hunter. She understood who she was meant to protect and what she was meant to kill, but there was a cold utilitarianism to her methods." Bianca added on. "She was terrifying to the White Fang, tearing them apart as they posed a threat to her Hunters and her people. She even struck down her own military for those same reasons."

 _Still a better story than mine. There wasn't any torture for me except for the training I was put through to be the perfect assassin. Who I was before my training didn't matter; it only mattered I was no one afterwards. I chose my predicament because I had people I needed to kill; a King, his mother, his dog, his executioner, a mountain of a man, and so many others. I regret nothing._

"I don't regret my transformation either. We became what we needed to become because we were strong, because we knew what we had to do." Summer nudged her companion playfully. "When my team leaves for morning practice, shower and bandage yourself properly before returning to Salem. Tell her you know the name of the Hunter who downed her Dragon and take a photo of me. I'm sure you can figure out where I'm going with this."

 _Aye._ Neo caught the towel and toiletries thrown her way, making her way to the bathroom. _Message me when you need me and try not to have too much fun without me._

"Qrow, Ruby and Yang can never know about her part in Summer's death." Nova handed a roll of bandages to Summer, who lightly wrapped her hand where Neo pierced her palm, having shifted the metacarpus back into place.

"Information is a delicate game." Summer swapped her shirts out and attached her scythe to her back, not bothered by the soft sheen of blood on the blade. "Neo's alliance with us isn't guaranteed to remain a secret, and Salem will use her past against us. My capacity as a High Commander will come into question when I start protecting a known criminal. It would also destroy our relationship with Atlas."

"We can't alienate her because we can't afford fighting against her." Bianca repeatedly tapped her rapier against her forehead, facilitating thought.

 _I want little Red to fight me when we eventually get to telling her. We need a rematch._ Their conversation must've drifted into the shower and Neo was throwing her two Lien in by text to Summer's scroll. _Ozpin had documents ready for such occasions where I'd have to work in the light._

"Except those documents do nothing to protect you from someone who knows more about your past than those documents can cover. Simply telling my Hunters to ignore her 'lies' will only make them more curious and suspicious she's telling the truth."

 _How'd you secure your Hunters in your original dimension?_

"People hated Salem and the White Fang more than they hated you. You'd already established yourself as willing to help from previous missions under disguises. We'll have to do the same here. Your involvement with the camps will be hidden but known to Qrow and perhaps Glynda, and we'll work our way from there."

Neo's lack of response prompted them to start their morning, passing through the door and leaving their guest to her devices.

Rather than the harsh wake up Summer and Nova delivered to the teams yesterday, they opted for a more casual approach, knocking on the doors and waiting half a minute.

Yang and Nora were the only ones to answer their calls, drowsily opening their doors and staring at them through sleep bogged eyes.

"You have thirty seconds to wake up your teams or we're throwing them into the showers." The two students snapped to, shaking awake their teammates and throwing pillows around. "Ruby, the faster you and your team get ready, the faster you'll be able to test fire my scythe."

In a rush a red petals, Ruby pulled her team behind her, depositing them in a large lump at the feet of Team SKBN. None of them looked close to ready, each one of them still in their night wear. Blake was still clutching her book, having evidently fallen asleep while reading it.

"When I said get ready, I meant get dressed first and then greet us out here." Ruby sheepishly left her team to disentangle themselves as she disappeared into her room to get changed.

In varying states of armour and clothing, Team JNPR tumbled out of their room before the three members of Team RWBY could get themselves off the floor properly.

It was going to be a painful few weeks before they got used to these wake up calls. Nora and Yang less so than everyone else as they actually went to the gym around this time. At least their regimen only included gym time every other day.

* * *

 _Arena Five - 0730_

Team SKBN looked incredibly relaxed after their sixteen kilometer run, even after having to juggle the weight of Pyrrha. Blake's abdomen had healed enough for her to run and another day would have Pyrrha able to keep up with them. Team RWBY and JNPR, however, were covered in thin films of sweat. Nova couldn't wait to introduce them to marathons.

"Had fun?" Bianca's runner high had her smiling as she wiped sweat from her forehead and flicked it off. The students all gave her stink eyes, except of course, each team's masochist, who looked at the older team with adoration.

Summer held her scythe out to Ruby who instantly forgot about her exhaustion and floated over to the weapon, hearts streaming out behind her and replacing the pupils of her eyes. Summer ripped her scythe away before Ruby could touch it, causing her to collapse to the ground.

"This is not a toy Ruby, no matter what you may think about weapons. You carry a High Caliber Sniper-Scythe, but I carry a Portable Artillery Scythe, so there are a few conditions before I let you fire this." Ruby nodded her head so fast everyone assumed it'd go flying off at any point. "You only get one shell." She removed one round from her leg pouch and held it in front of Ruby's face. "This shell costs enough to buy one of your cases and the recoil on it is enough to rip your arms from their sockets if you're not safe."

Rather than shy away from the awesome destructive capabilities of Summer's scythe, she made a pass for the weapon. She unsurprisingly failed.

"Pick a target." Summer had led them out to the northern forests during the course of their short conversation. There were trees no less thicker than a meter and outcrops of boulders casting beautifully intricate shadows along the the unending carpet of moss.

Ruby picked out a sizable tree some fifty meters away.

"This is a high explosive incendiary/armor-piercing round." Summer unfolded the scythe before embedding the blade deep into the ground. She loaded one round into the chamber and removed the magazine from the action, preventing Ruby from firing any more. "You'll plant your feet firmly on the ground when you fire and make sure you protect your ears with your Aura. That last bit goes for all of us."

Ruby quickly leapt to her instructions, plugging her ears shut and setting her stance. She briefly fumbled for the trigger of Summer's modified weapon, not used to the increased proportions, before depressing the hidden trigger.

A shockwave resounded through the audience, shaking off the morning dew from the grass.

The part of the poor tree's trunk Ruby had aimed at disintegrated in a shower of sawdust and flames. The tree dangerously listed towards them as its support was blown away, collapsing directly on its offenders. Bianca redirected it away from them and it impacted a few meters to their side, its fight lost.

"Holy shit." The unanimous and simultaneous reaction came from Team RWBY and JNPR.

Summer hadn't been kidding about the recoil. A meter long trench was carved out from where the blade was originally embedded to where it ended up after the shot.

Ruby was unsuccessful in her efforts to pull the scythe from its confines, so Summer stepped in and ripped it up without a hint of effort.

"Why is there blood on your scythe?" Blake immediately noticed the red tinge on the blade, out of place among the grey steel.

"I was sparring." Summer wiped the blade with a rag from her pouch, folded her weapon, and stowed it on her back.

"You call drawing blood a 'spar'?" Blake retorted. "You probably went out and killed a civilian."

"My team can testify I was on campus all afternoon, evening, and night. Blood is a common occurrence among spars with Hunters."

Blake scoffed at the thought of injuring another Hunter in a practice duel.

"Training is to be taken up at all times and sparring is one of the best ways to do so. It's rarely ever sanctioned and goes until knockout, not until Professor Goodwitch calls it or your Aura meter drops to critical."

"Sparring without using Aura to shield yourself is a common practice among senior Huntsmen who enjoy the challenge it brings them and is similar to training with weights."

Bianca failed to mentions the times where Aura shielding was ineffective, or where Hunters specifically choose to take injuries to conserve Aura. Nova was the only Hunter alive who had never yet had to make that choice, her reserves able to tank shots from Summer's Crescent Rose.

"Those practice duels you fight in class are nothing compared to a live fight between two Hunters or a Hunter and Grimm. What you learn in class is showmanship and flair used in the Vytal Tournament to gain sponsors and clientele. The more the competing Hunters bring in, the better the country does and the more funding we get along with more missions coming our way."

Nova explained the rather simplistic idea of tournaments to them. It wasn't a measure used to test Hunters, but entertainment for the civilians, and as much as the Hunter Commanders hated it, it brought in funds.

"A live fight between Hunters last seconds. There's no flair, no boasting, no extravagant maneuvers, no waiting for your opponent to make his move. There's you and the person who wants you to lose. We'll train you to fight to survive, not to impress your family and friends."

"You're training us for war." Yang narrowed her eyes, voice rumbling with deep emotion as she make the connection. The trainees stopped all of their side conversations and paid strict attention to Team SKBN.

"Yes." Summer admitted. "Against who, I don't know. We've minimised any potential war with Atlas, but against the White Fang, against Mistral or Vacuo, I can't guarantee. What the White Fang threw against Beacon was nothing but their vanguard."

"I won't fight against them." Blake whispered, hand gripping Gambol Shroud intensely.

"Not yet, but eventually you'll be at an impasse. Do you abandon your team and leave them to fight the Fang alone? It isn't about taking a side anymore, Blake, it's about defending what you have." Yang slipped her hand into Blake's during Summer's wise words. "You won't have to kill if you don't want to, but you must defend your family."

Blake said nothing in reply, letting Yang comfort her.

"You have time to ponder your dilemma, but for now you're dismissed to shower. Team JNPR is free for the day, but if I don't receive a training log for today then you'll regret tomorrow. Team RWBY will meet us at Hanger Two at 0830. Dismissed."

Team SKBN disappeared in their usual trails of multicoloured petals, leaving the two teams to trudge back to their dorms. Yang pulled a semi-comatose Blake behind her, taking upon the duty to lead her team back to their room, seemingly the only Hunter not lost in thought.

Perhaps Bianca and Nova had been right about her being the most levelheaded as she already knew her answer.

She'd stand by her team, just as she had sacrificed herself for Blake. They came first, regardless of orders from Summer or Ozpin. She had learned the lesson they wanted drummed into her head.

Arriving at their rooms didn't pull Blake from her thoughts so Ruby and Weiss took their showers first, separately, no matter how much Yang wanted to shove the two in together and watch the repercussions from the uptight heiress and her sister.

Though with the way Blake continued to not response to the outside world, she'd probably have to pull her with her and somehow wash them both with one arm. She couldn't help the excited shiver that passed through her body at the thought. Maybe a cold shower would shock her from her thinking conundrum.

Pulling out a desk chair, she pushed the Faunus onto it.

Still no response.

She scratched her feline ears, but received nothing more than a twitch of them in return.

She needed to take some more extreme measures, but Weiss was still in the room, having given the shower first to Ruby.

"If you're going to make out with her, you might as well get it over with. Ruby and I will have to eventually get used to your relationship with her, so go on and kiss her, tickle her, fondle her, or slap her."

"And you accuse us of being perverts." Yang sat down on Blake's lap, lifting up her girlfriend's chin and placing a kiss on the corner of her lips.

Blake finally responded, eyes dilating to stare up at a very close and grinning Yang who pressed a more firm kiss against her, creeping more closely to the center of her lips. Blake closed her eyes, sinking into repressed instincts, threading fingers into golden locks.

Then she realised there was another in the room with them. Someone who was heavily blushing while watching them.

"Weiss!?" Blake scrambled to push Yang off her.

"Enjoying the show?" Yang picked herself up and rushed over to Weiss, shoving aside her toiletries and towel and getting right up in her face. "By your face, you are."

"It was...hot." Weiss gulped down her shame, forcing her blush down but unable to meet her friends' gazes.

"Weiss!" Blake snapped, standing from her seat and marching over to her.

"Blake!?" Weiss mimicked mockingly. "Are you going to kick me and Ruby out everything you and Yang want to share a kiss, or get more intimate? We are your team and we are your family. I'm happy for you two so don't hide it."

"When did you get so smart?" Yang got a low five when she offered her hand. "You wanna have a threesome?"

"Yang!" Blake admonished but Weiss didn't. She was contemplating it but knew it wasn't a serious offer.

"That's the second threesome I've been invited to since Team SKBN arrived. I might consider it again." Yang and Blake were the ones blushing and staring at her agape. "Did you know Bianca and Nova offered me your place when you declined their offer for one?"

"She was mine before they offered." Blake growled and Weiss patted her thigh.

"You'll recall I returned from their room an hour or so after you and Yang left with my hair and dress more...ruffled than usual." Weiss was smirking at their faces.

"No…" Blake and Yang shared wide eyes. "Tell us you didn't."

"Didn't what?" Ruby had finished her shower and was draped in her relaxation clothes, toweling off her hair.

"She had a threesome with Bianca and Nova." Ruby eeped and flushed the colour of her cloak.

"I'm not saying anything." Weiss locked her mouth shut and threw the key away, grabbing her essentials and fled into the bathroom, leaving her team to deliberate.

"Do you really think she did it?" Yang pulled Ruby onto Weiss' vacated spot.

"Wouldn't that be a little weird?" Ruby prodded. "It'd be a like doing it with your older sister."

Yang poked Ruby in her stomach, causing her to giggle.

"Been thinking about me?" Yang grasped Ruby's chin, bringing her face rather close to hers, causing her sister to flush again. "Or been thinking about Summer?"

"She's my- mom-" Ruby wrenched her face from her sister's hand and bit it. "And you're my sister."

"Didn't stop Weiss apparently." Yang mumbled, shaking off Ruby's attack on her hand.

"I'm not even sure if they're married." Blake added. "Have you ever seen them kiss, hug each other and even hold hands."

"Maybe we just haven't noticed it." Ruby thought out loud. "Maybe they like to use whips and chains when we're not looking."

Yang and Blake slowly tilted their heads to look at an innocent Ruby.

"What is that book teaching you?" Yang left her sister alone, leaning away. "Maybe Blake was right in telling you not to read it."

"I'm not giving you it to you." Blake's smile turned into a frown.

"No, please. Keep reading it. Nice to not have to step around certain topics with you anymore."

"I don't think we should be corrupting your sister anymore than those books are going to."

"You call the natural attraction between two people 'corruption'? Weiss gave me her leave to kiss you while she's in the room and I don't think Ruby minds either." Ruby gave her two thumbs up and Yang crawled over her and pressed Blake down by her shoulder onto the bed. "Do you know what I planned to do to break you from your thinking stupor?"

"No…" Yang wasn't sure if it was protest to her actions or an answer. Blake didn't know how to react with Yang looming over her, keeping her in place, her blonde curls obscuring her vision of everything but her face.

"If kissing you didn't work, then I was going to drag you into the shower." Yang placed her lips next to her lover's ears. "With me."

Blake swallowed her embarrassment, whispering back into Yang's ear.

"Join me." Blake prevented Yang from pulling away with a hand on the back of her head.

"You two would be saving water." Ruby was close enough to hear their whispers so Blake threw a pillow at her for the comment. "I don't care what you two do, just be done in time to meet Team SKBN at the hangars at 0830."

Ruby hopped off of Blake's bed, toweling her hair off and then tossing the towel aside, settling down onto Weiss' bed. She reached up to her bed's side and removed her book, falling down and settling in to read while Yang and Blake argued.

"Let's say we each have the time for a shower. Still going to shower with me?" Blake could feel Yang shifting uncomfortably on top of her and refusing to meet her eyes.

"Afraid I'll say no, or take Ruby with me instead?" Blake played around with Yang and her hair. "Faunus make a very important choice when they choose their lovers and we don't make it lightly. You're mine, do you understand?"

Yang nodded, pressing her forehead against hers, intertwining their fingers.

"Ruby has a crush on Weiss. She wouldn't accept anyways."

"No I don't." Ruby hide her face behind her book, unwilling to let them see her blush.

"Uh huh." Yang left her spot from atop of Blake, grabbed black and yellow towels from their dresser and marched past the soaking wet heiress. Her hair was absolutely drenched, dripping water everywhere as she desperately tried to dry her hair in time for their meet. "You can discuss your crush on Weiss while you dry her hair."

Blake disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Ruby stuck behind her book. Just like Yang to throw Ruby under the bus and leave her to fend for herself.

Weiss made her way to her bed, sitting by Ruby's feet as her leader curled in on herself, effectively putting a wall of legs and book between them.

"Ruby." Weiss pulled the book down but Ruby wasn't meeting her eyes. "Do you have a crush on me?"

"I think so." Ruby mumbled.

"Why?" Weiss spent the time Ruby was think drying her hair. Drying and maintenance were the few constant reasons nagging her to cut her hair like Bianca did. Maybe not as short, just to her shoulders.

"Why?" Ruby snapped up to meet her eyes, causing Weiss to stop drying her hair and stare back wide eyed. "You're the first friend I had in Beacon who wasn't Yang. You're much smarter than me but arrogant about your knowledge. You can be such a bitch sometimes, but you care in your own way. You're supremely confident in the field and you know how to be a Hunter."

Weiss fidgeted uncomfortably while Ruby ranted at her. When she was done with her rant, Weiss wrapped her towel around her neck and shuffled to sit neck to Ruby.

"All good reasons for a crush, but everything you said was superficial." Regardless, Weiss slipped her hand into Ruby's. "You'll always be my partner and my friend, but I've never looked at you as a potential love interest." Ruby tried to wrench her hand free at Weiss' words, but she held on tight. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was afraid of pushing you away, of losing you as a friend. Afraid you're too young, or you didn't feel the same."

"Was?" Ruby didn't dare look up from their intertwined hands, only returning an affectionate squeeze.

"Was." Weiss confirmed, handing over a comb. "Now help me fix my hair or we'll never make it."

"What are we?" Ruby began the laborious task of untassling Weiss' hair, putting aside her book. "I like you and you like me."

"Partners and friends. We'll see where we go from there."

"But that does mean I get to hug you whenever I want, right?" Ruby pulled Weiss backwards by her hair, causing her to release a sharp squeal of surprise and fall onto Ruby's lap. "And eventually kiss you."

"Let's see where we go first before you start assaulting me with kisses." Weiss was remarkably able to keep her face devoid of crimson. "Now get back to combing."

"Tell me first if had that threesome with Bianca and Nova."

"Envious?" Weiss couldn't turn her head to face Ruby. "I only said it to screw with Blake and Yang."

"Do you want to screw with them further? They're screwing with us right now with their shared shower."

"They're our sisters, they're supposed to screw with us." Weiss pulled her hair from Ruby's grasp, giving up having it in any manageable state, turning to face Ruby. "Your proposal?"

Ruby didn't say anything but a large grin on her face bellied her actions. She grabbed Weiss by the hem of her shirt, pulling her off balance and into her embrace, simultaneously shifting from her seat to lay down on Weiss' bed. Weiss followed obediently, ending up straddling Ruby's leg.

"My hair's never going to dry at this rate." Weiss struggled with her words, unsure of where Ruby had learned any of this from. Her hair spilled over her shoulder, slightly draping Ruby in wet grey. "It's getting in the way too."

Ruby blew a few strands out of her mouth.

"Are we going to discuss your hair or are you going to kiss me?" As much as Ruby was trying to sound confident, Weiss could see she was afraid of pushing too far, throwing the ball to her part of the court.

"Stop trying to be someone you're not." Weiss lay her head on Ruby's chest. "We'll see where we go." She did, however, move Ruby's hand to rest on her ass and crept a hand under Ruby's shirt, probing the hints of abs to come. "Right now, we're screwing with Blake and Yang."

It was funny seeing Ruby turn from knowing what she wanted, to fumbling around with her hands, unsure of where to put them, even after Weiss placed them there. The other hand, she decided, would mirror Weiss, sneaking underneath her shirt, lifting it to show the small of her back.

Weiss lay in comfortable silence, closing her eyes as she listened to the comforting beat of Ruby's heart. Their hands made ever small movements and twitches, letting the other know they weren't alone, having more meaning than any kiss could.

Zwei decided he had had enough of being ignored and curled up next to his master, basking in their warmth.

Though Ruby had hugged Weiss before and the latter sometimes responded, when she wasn't being tackled or struggling to regain her footing from her flying partner. This meant much more for them as each got used to the other's presence, hands probing and scratching, palming and tickling.

It was how Blake and Yang found them as they stumbled out of the bathroom; Ruby petting her partner and Weiss enjoying it, eyes closed without a care in the world.

"I half expected you to have ran and instead I find you acting as a pillow." Ruby stuck her tongue out back at her sister.

"Go away." Weiss mumbled and shooed them away.

"Can't." Yang threw herself down besides them. "We need to get to the Hangar Two."

They groaned at their predicament, but knew better than to disobey orders from a superior. Nova had been kind enough to leave them their Aura for their run today, a gift to help them complete the workout. Summer would extend it and order Nova to take their Aura if they didn't show up.

"Where do you think we're going?" Blake joined them on the bed, laying at the foot on the bed. She'd rather ruin Weiss' bed than her own as they'd all decided it would suit their needs.

"I don't know, but orders are orders." Ruby wiggled, prompting Weiss sit up, but she just fell back to rest against Blake. A dozen or more months ago, Weiss wouldn't have dared even look at a Faunus, but cold logic denied her the ability to discriminate against them.

Blake briefly played with the former heiress' hair before pushing her roughly up.

"Come on." Blake stood and began to rummage about their dresser, pulling out her usual blouse and assortment of leg wear. "Get dressed or we'll never make it on time."

They had long gotten used to having to change in front of each other, though they continued to do so turned away from each other. Each day they wondered how Team JNPR got through their mornings with their mixed sex room.

They rushed through dressing, tossing clothes, plates, scabbards and weapons left and right to their correct recipients. Zwei watched the proceedings, barking at them to hurry up and scaring the Faunus when he brushed up against her.

Silly cat.

The team got ready with minutes to spare, sprinting towards the north side of campus with towels draped around everyone but Ruby's neck. They'd have to dry their hair during their trip to an undisclosed location.

The door to the hangar opened for Ruby's scroll and they were met with three bullheads, two of which were in the process of disassembly and one where Team SKBN milled out, checking the various components of the craft. Performing a check meant they'd be traveling a considerable distance.

At their entrance, Team SKBN briefly paused their actions, returning to their duties. Except for Summer. She beckoned them forwards, inspecting them as they stood before her. She made them feel inadequate; as if they had done something wrong.

"Where are your bags?" Summer's question had them exchanging looks of confusion. There hadn't been explicit orders to pack, only to show up at the hangar at the given time.

"Have you learned the concept of a go-bag?" Summer tutted as all of them shook their heads no. "Every team member needs a bag stocked with seven days worth of clothing including rain gear, and a clear zippered bag containing oils, rags, a whetstone if you need one, a spare scroll, lien, ration bars and other equipment you may need. You're to keep it maintained and ready to be grabbed at a moment's notice. Our trip isn't meant to last more than a day, so you get off with a warning. Understood?"

They chanted an affirmative.

"Make sure they make their packs when we return, or you'll be running until you pass out." Ruby gulped at her mother's threat. At least she cared enough to make sure they were prepared for the future. "Now get on, or we're going to be late."

"Where are we going?" Weiss asked as Kara slammed the door shut and disappeared into the cockpit, joining Nova. Bianca joined Summer in leaning against one of the doors. Bullheads weren't meant for long distance travel or comfort, but could travel much faster than any Air Bus.

"That's a surprise, but you're welcome to guess." Bianca curled into Summer's side, submitting to her ministrations.

Blake was the first to guess, peering through the cockpit window, squinting as the morning sun scorched her face.

"East." She declared. "We're going east."

"That's not a guess."

"We're going hunting." Ruby added. "You said we'd get to go hunting with you eventually."

"Good guess, but no. This is a purely diplomatic mission." Yang relaxed, satisfied she wouldn't have to fight disadvantaged.

"There are only two states east of Vale: Mistral and Menagerie." Blake's hand tightened around Yang's. "Please tell me we're not going to Menagerie."

"That'd be a lie." Zwei nuzzled into Summer's side, having snuck onto the craft when no one was looking.

Blake leapt to a standing, towering over Summer before anyone could ask why they were going. She didn't raise her voice; whispering in a hoarse voice. A tear streamed down her cheek, falling from her chin. "Let me off this ship."

"No." Summer's tone was final, bordering on cold.

"I'm not going home. I'm not ready to go home!" Blake's team stared in shock as Blake lost her composure and was near yelling at their superior. Kara stepped into the fuselage, smiling infuriatingly at the scene, taking the girl's face into her hands and wiping away the tears falling from her eyes. "I'm not ready to go. Please, don't make me go."

Blake fell into Kara's hold, relishing the feeling of an older women in the face of her mother hugging her. She was lead into her lap, resting against Kara. Yang joined them, comforting her girlfriend through her troubles and Ruby and Weiss crowded around them.

"Why don't you want to go home?" Yang ran her thumb over the back of Blake's hand.

Blake wasn't answering, content with Kara caring for her much like her mother had done before she joined the White Fang. They looked for answers from Summer and Bianca instead.

"We could tell you, but it's not our story to tell. Kara told us her story and Blake will tell hers."

"You think you're so smug and smart, forcing my hand in this confined area where I can't escape?" Blake wiped her tears away, revealing righteous anger directed at Summer. "You pull me out of my element, forcing me to reveal my ears and now forcing me to tell my team about my past. What do you gain from this?"

"It took two years before my team started operating at full capacity; before Nova revealed her secrets, before Bianca revealed her secrets, before I revealed my secrets and before Kara revealed her secrets." Nova leaned against the cockpit door, listening to Summer dictate a therapy session and mold the team. "I could reveal all of Team RWBY's secrets to you right now, but it wouldn't forge the team you eventually become. You have to trust them and they'll trust you, and when you all do, a true Hunter team is created."

"Why don't you want to go home?" Yang prodded, not wanting to see her partner cry and aching to have her trust her.

"I'm afraid." Blake peeled off of Kara, sliding down to sit next to her. Yang nudged her, telling her to continue. "I'm afraid, because I haven't seen my home, or my parents, for six years."

Kara pressed a kiss to her head, praising her for the courage she had and Nova and Bianca beamed at her. They knew the story well.

"Why?" Weiss sat across from her.

"Back before the White Fang became a terrorist organization, my dad was in charge of it. He wasn't the first and neither was he the last, but he believed the Fang could usher in equality for the Faunus through peaceful demonstrations and petitions." Blake took a deep breath, steadying herself. "Six years ago, my father was forced out as leader as he didn't condone the violent tactics the Fang was starting to take and Adam was chosen to lead in his stead. I chose to follow Adam, leaving Menagerie, and my family."

"I spent four years learning under him. He taught me everything I knew, from how Dust works to how to wield Gambol Shroud. I stayed with him for four years, where we raided Schnee Dust convoys and trains, organised armed protests for equality and terrified the population of Vale."

"But fear didn't lead to equality. It ostracised you further, branding all Faunus as they branded the White Fang." Blake nodded at Bianca's words.

"One night, Adam and I were tasked with destroying a shipment of Dust carried by train traveling from North Sanus Port to Vale. It was defended by several Atlesian droids and a squad of Vale infantry." Everyone leaned in for the next words. "He killed them all, including the train conductor. I left before the mission was complete."

"What'd you do for the year before you came to Beacon?" That year was yet to be accounted for and Yang was dying to know. "You said you didn't go home and you left the Fang."

"I stayed in Vale, moving whenever I heard whispers of the White Fang in the vicinity. Some Faunus sheltered me, knowing it was hard in this world, but most of the time I drifted from shelter to shelter, until Qrow found me."

"You were homeless for a _year_!?" Ruby exclaimed. "Why didn't you go home?"

"To the family I abandoned?" Blake answered, silencing their questions. "Now I guess I'm being taken there regardless if I want to or not."

"So you're afraid your parents don't love you and will disown you?" Weiss gave nothing away from her clipped tone, but upon Blake nodding, she moved swiftly, delivering an open palmed slap, stunning the compartment. "You're a miserable little fuck."

Nova, of course, had her scroll out and was recording this moment for reasons of blackmail.

"You have a home and two parents who are probably beyond their wits terrified and worried about you, and you say you're afraid of going home." Weiss spat at her teammate, surprising her team at the venom in her voice. "I would've killed for at least one parent who loved me, regardless if I had a home or not."

"What'd you mean?" Weiss' ire lessened at Ruby's pouting look as she begged for information from her partner.

"Well, we're sharing pasts so let's get mine out of the way." Blake recovered enough from her slap to glare at the heiress, but listened astutely. "You said you haven't been home since you were twelve, but I haven't _had_ a home since I was old enough to walk and talk."

Yang made to interrupt, but Kara stopped her, eyes communicating to let her finish talking before questions went flying. It was remarkable enough they'd managed to get Blake's past out of her, but now Weiss was in the mood for sharing.

"Everyone assumes, as the heiress to the Schnee Dust Corporation, I had everything I ever wanted growing up. Yes, that's true. I had everything I wanted of monetary value, all at the cost of Jacques Schnee's racist Dust mining policies." No one asked who Jacques was, deducing he was her estranged father if she was on a first name basis. "All the dresses, all the weapons, all the training I wanted was mine, as long as I was the daughter he wanted."

"I wouldn't even be here it it wasn't for me playing to his ego, proposing I act as a representative of the company in Vale. I wasn't a daughter to him; I was an asset to be used to extend the reach of the company and gain influence. I was treated with indifference from him at best and stern reprimand if I screwed up my lessons. My mother neglected me, preferring the bottom of a bottle over caring for me, and after Winter left for the military, she wasn't allowed to see me. You don't get to complain about a family who loves you, when I haven't had to chance to experience one."

Weiss hadn't cried at all during her tirade, carefully schooling her features to hide every bit of pain within her. She wasn't expecting a return slap from Blake. Her eyes held no malice, only retribution.

"What're we then, chopped liver?" Blake shuffled over to hug the heiress. It wasn't one of Ruby's or Yang's over enthusiastic hugs. It was more akin to the hug she had shared with Ruby before hopping onto the bullhead. "We are your family now, understand?"

Weiss nodded her head against Blake's.

"What happens when you have to go home?" Ruby broached the subject, afraid Weiss would have to go home for the summer and be without her team for the next few weeks, stuck in a loveless castle.

"I'm not going home, ever." Weiss impishly smiled at them. "I'm not a Schnee anymore, and thanks to Bianca and Nova's help, I'm also a citizen of Vale. I can never be forced to go back to Atlas."

"If you're not a Schnee, then what are you?"

"She's an Ironwood, which helps out immensely because we'd have been shot out of the sky if I put a Schnee on the passenger manifest." Nova ruffled Weiss' hair affectionately, causing her to scowl. "She's also my sister."

"What?" This was the cumulative thought process of Team RWBY.

"Schnees aren't allowed on the island of Menagerie and are summarily turned away by the state's air forces.

"No, not that part. Why am I your sister?"

"When Bianca and I got married, we asked James if we could use his last name instead of having to decide between the names of Schnee and Xiao-Long. Not adopted by him by any stretch, but it prevents us from using the combination of our last names. Schnee-Xiao-Long is a bit of a mouthful."

"We're still not convinced you're married. You've told us you're married, but Bianca seems to be much more comfortable in mom's arms. None of you have kissed your partners or even hugged them." Ruby pointed to the other White Rose pairing on the ship.

"And what does married life entail?" Summer asked, hand still petting Bianca, adding fuel to Ruby's accusations. "The book you read is a perverse pleasure where we get ideas to use in bed. Just because we're not kissing in front of you, doesn't mean we're not married."

"For all we know, Summer's actually married to Bianca and Nova's married to Kara and you're having a massive joke on us." Yang pointed out.

"Why can't I be married to Summer, or Bianca married to Kara?" Ruby and Yang shared looks of uncertainty and disgust at Nova's proposition. "Wouldn't that'd be a better joke on you?"

"We wouldn't believe it." Weiss scoffed. "Bianca and Kara I can believe, but you two are sisters."

"And?" Nova challenged them, disturbing Bianca's rest by abruptly pulling Summer to her feet and dipping her, face poised directly above hers. Bianca just shuffled over to the next heat source in line; Kara, andwatched the ensuing chaos.

"But you won't." Blake knew Yang, and subsequently Nova, loved to push buttons and leave people uncomfortable.

In response, Summer wrapped her arms around Nova's neck, acquiescing to her demand to screw with the psyche of Team RWBY. You could hear jaws drop, but neither Bianca or Kara seemed to care. Even Zwei had a dumbfounded look on his face.

They weren't quite sure of how to react. Summer and Nova were supposed to be sisters, half sisters at least, but the kiss they were sharing was beyond any friendly kiss Yang had ever bestowed on Ruby.

Nova graciously stopped her actions, letting Summer down onto the floor on the bullhead, acting as a pillow for her head. If there was one thing Summer truly enjoyed, it was the altruistic action of someone running their fingers through her hair.

"Let that be a lesson to you; never challenge Nova to a dare. You'll lose." To be fair, they'd all abandoned trivial moral inhibitions, preferring the company of each other, regardless of societal pressures or standards.

"And you two don't care your supposed spouses just kissed each other?" Weiss questioned wasn't posed against their relationship to each each other, but against their adultery, understanding Nova and Summer had done it to screw with them more than anything.

"You four are very hard to please it seems." Bianca relented, leaving her spot next to Blake to hungrily devour Nova's lips in a violent display of passion, leaving the younger team hot and bothered. "Is that enough proof for you?"

Instead of being satisfied, Ruby poked Kara and Summer, wanting some proof they weren't lying to her, not forgetting Summer ordered her away when she started asking questions about a lie back at the bar.

Kara knew Ruby wouldn't stop unless Summer ordered it, and if the order was given, Ruby would obey, but it would foster distrust within her and have her pressure them for answers further. She alleviated some of their distrust by curling next to Summer and giving her a kiss.

"Satisfied we're not pranking you or will we need to have a foursome to convince you?" Team SKBN sat across the fuselage from Team RWBY, so tightly intertwined with one another they couldn't make out who began and ended where. They quickly nodded. "Good, now there are a few items of importance we need to go over."

"First, you're all Hunters under my command for this mission and you'll follow my orders and portray yourselves within reason." Summer got another round of nods. "Secondly, Weiss, you're going to be held at gunpoint the moment you step off this craft. You're not to retaliate at all nor defend yourself in any way. You'll stand next to Blake as protection as they won't risk shooting her by accident."

As much as Weiss tried to not convey fear, being told not the defend herself against an island of Faunus who hated her family name shook her up. Blake rubbed her shoulder compassionately. They'd have to trust Summer and her team to protect them during this diplomatic mission.

"Other than those two items, Blake is returning to a home she hasn't seen in six years, and while it isn't our Menagerie, it's Kara's home too, so remember to have some fun at least." Nova added.

"What's this diplomatic mission for?" Weiss had to ask.

"Classified for now, but behave and maybe I'll tell you." Summer told her. The mission would be declassified to their forces in two weeks time either way. Any information leaked after the mission would do the SDC no good as their camps were bordering on illegal in the first place and couldn't raise a legal fuss. "And specific note to Ruby, do not randomly accost Faunus and ask to pet their ears. It's usually a gesture done between parent and child, lovers, or close friends."

Ruby flushed at her previous blunder when forcing Blake to submit to her petting, but Blake wasn't having any of that. She pulled her leader in a half hug, telling her it was all right. Team SKBN shared smiles.

"I have one request before we land." Weiss got their attention. They still had an hour or two to go. "Do any of you know how to cut hair?"

Without missing a beat, Summer unsheathed Shadow's twin and handed to Nova. As much as she prized her hair, she had seen Ruby towel off her hair in minutes while hers was still wet, regularly got in the way, and could be turned against her, as demonstrated by Pyrrha.

She only hoped Nova knew what she was doing.

* * *

AN: Finally got this out after my writer's block and my finals week. Mostly filler and some character development for Team RWBY and some exposition to Team SKBN's relationship with Neo, and their pasts. I aim to have the next chapter out by New Years, but I'm not too good with schedules. I've been rereading the first few chapters and I cringe at them, but they'll stay the same as a testament to progress. And to the few who've stayed to read this far, congratulations and thank you.


	10. Ten - Heart

Chapter Ten

* * *

 **Heart**

* * *

 _Bullhead - Approaching Menagerie  
_

Weiss stared dejectedly at her now vastly shortened strands of hair. Nova had done an amazingly precise job, the incredibly sharp blade of Summer's knife precisely shearing off hair, leaving her with a slightly rougher version of Nova's hairstyle.

From the front, she looked exactly the same, but now lacked the bun in the back, tying off the rest of her hair into a high ponytail with one of Nova's spare hairbands. The end of it just brushed the nape of her neck, shorter than Nova's but longer than Bianca's.

"You don't look happy." Nova handed Summer her blade back, stepping back to inspect her handiwork. Summer refused to trust other people with scissors next to her face and neck so someone on the team had to learn how to maintain her hair for her.

"I would offer to cut Blake's and Yang's hair but I'm already betting Kara gets mistaken for her and Yang would throttle me before I got close."

"You know it." Yang never stopped staring at the knife until it was sheathed and stowed away. "Now that I look at it, Kara and Blake can easily pass as sisters. Nova and I differ in arms and hair, Bianca and Weiss differ in just about everything except for colour scheme, and Summer and Ruby differ through eye colour."

She didn't voice her concern about Summer, preferring to squish the thought down, but there was something about Summer that terrified her and she couldn't fathom why Blake nor anyone else on her team couldn't sense it.

While Ruby clung to her as a replacement mother, Yang distrusted her. It was the commanding presence which dominated everyone, and the underlying power which made her feel inadequate to her, almost like a toy to be used at her pleasure or to relieve boredom. That crazy mute she had fought at the train was like that. Summer was hiding something.

 _Five lien I get hugged by mom first._ Blake read off the scroll Kara handed her. She knew it was a jest, sending back a wry smile, but couldn't help but cycle through various scenarios in her head, anywhere from them not even recognising her, to disowning her on the spot.

Kara flicked her.

 _Stop overthinking. Your parents will be overjoyed to see you._

"I hope so." Blake and the compartment jostled as the autopilot transitioned through the clouds, dropping in altitude to reveal Kuo Kuana, the crowning jewel of Menagerie.

It resembled more of a rural village than the capital of an island, but for what it lacked in skyscrapers, it made up for it in sheer size. Small storied houses dotted the landscape, interspersed with larger buildings for administrative and recreational uses.

Millions of Faunus called the island their home, but non-Faunus could be found among them and unlike the four major countries, Menagerie accepted all those who wished to live equally.

Summer would've moved her Hunters here if she didn't have a duty to the people of Vale.

"We're coming up to land, and we've been granted permission to land in your parent's backyard." Nova poked her head out of the cockpit to inform them before disappearing again to land.

"Looks like you might not been introduced at gunpoint after all." Summer said, checking herself over to make sure she had everything. Their go-bags would remain on the craft. "The Ironwood name carries weight even here."

Weiss unknowingly released a pent up breath, grateful James had let her use his name so she wouldn't immediately be beset upon by righteously angry Faunus.

It was generally understood by the people of Menagerie that the Hunter Corps were the only way to achieve citizenship in the four major city states, and was made entirely possible through the Commanders of their respective Huntsmen.

Ozpin never turned away anyone who needed help, and never discriminated because of the trivial difference between humans and Faunus. Summer followed in his footsteps.

The ship jostled as Yang set her down in a clearing behind what appeared to be a mansion with an immaculately maintained lawn.

"You four go on ahead. I managed to convince the traffic controller to not report the return of their princess to her father yet, so it'll be a nice surprise." Nova slid open the door and gestured for them to leave. "And Weiss, keep Myrtenaster stowed."

"Princess!?" Team RWBY all turned to stared at their facepalming Faunus teammate. She had forgotten her parents were the equivalent of royalty on the island.

"Um…" Blake did what she did best and ran for the house, leaving her teammates to chase after her.

With Summer's severe warning about comporting themselves and not defending herself, Weiss found it strange there were no guards posted anywhere around the mansion, and the fact they were allowed to land directly next to the house of Menagerie's leader.

If they were instead going to Schnee Castle, they'd have been forced to land at an ostentatious landing pad, disarmed, and then paraded through extravagant halls towards a tastefully decorated office where Jacques would sit on a high backed chair with a cigar in his hand.

Prick.

Her rather violent thoughts were interrupted by running into Blake, who stood standstill before the back door of the mansion. No one had come to greet them yet, another stark difference between their two lifestyles. Nova must've landed exceptionally quietly for no one to notice.

"Go on princess." Weiss tried to keep the smile off her face, but couldn't. As she was no longer to the heiress of the SDC, the equivalent of royalty in Atlas, Blake would now be the recipient of those types of jokes. "We're all right here."

Composing herself, Blake took a deep breath and knocked three times on the doors. Several seconds passed before someone opened the door, probably confused someone was knocking from the back door rather than the front door.

Much like Ruby and Summer, Blake's mother looked extremely similar to Kara, only lacking the scar across her throat, and had earrings in her feline ears.

"Hi mom." Blake was itching to stand behind her teammates and not be in the front, but no one was letting her escape, forming a wall on the patio between the outside and the house.

"Blake?" Her ears flattened at her mother's voice, unbelieving and breathless. There was no yelling, no running inside the house, or shutting the door. Her mother walked up the her and pulled her into a hug.

Six years could make a hug last a long time.

"Kali, who is it?" An imposing man in an open purple trench coat came into view, only to pause as Blake and his wife stood side by side facing him. His face softened and he rushed forward, sweeping the both of them into his arms.

Blake would have passed out from lack of air if her dad hadn't noticed his daughter had brought guests. One of which he was not happy about. He would have to have a stern talking to the air traffic controller who permitted one of _them_ to land on his island.

"Dad, you wouldn't mind letting us down?" He had been so lost in thought, he hadn't realized he still held his family in his arms. He followed her request.

"Blake, who are your guests?" Kali took notice of the three standing a short distance. She only recognised one of them. Weiss fidgeted under her gaze, wondering where Summer was to bail her out when the shooting started.

It was amusing to see the smallest member of Team RWBY stepping up to the large panther Faunus to shake his hand.

"I'm Ruby Rose, Team Leader of designation RWBY, Hunter Team in training at Beacon." Ghira shook her hand. "This is my partner, Weiss Ironwood and next to her is my sister, Yang Xiao-Long, Blake's partner."

"You look remarkably like a Schnee." At the revelation she wasn't an enemy of the state, his demeanor became warmer, offering his hand in return.

"Formerly a Schnee. I decided my family had caused enough pain to the Faunus and I left."

"I vouch for her if that helps." Blake threw her support behind her teammate. They had been a team for close to a year, and except for the few rocky weeks while Blake's heritage remained a secret, Weiss had not treated her any differently.

Ghira didn't look too happy about welcoming a Schnee, even a former one into his home, but the name Ironwood would not allow him to turn away his ward. Not to mention, his meeting with the Commander of Vale's Hunters was suppose to be today and it wasn't a coincidence Blake had returned home on the exact same day.

"Miss Rose." Ruby looked aghast Ghira put the word 'Miss' with her name. "Are you of any relation to High Commander Summer Rose?"

"I don't know about the High Commander part but Summer is my mom." Ruby pointed towards the ship in the backyard. "Her team is in the craft, probably giving time for Blake to acquaint herself with her home again. And please just call me Ruby. I'm too young to be called 'Miss'."

"Please tell your mother to come meet us then. I've been expecting her."

"Kay." Before Ruby could message her superior, the door to the craft opened again and Team SKBN stepped out in a diamond formation with Summer at the head and Nova at the tail. They moved in sync, almost ghosting across the ground and up the stairs of the patio.

The Belladonnas couldn't help but notice the team was a near exact copy of Team RWBY, down to the clone of Ruby Rose, the petite Ironwood, their quiet daughter, and the one armed blonde.

"Chieftain Belladonna, a pleasure." This wasn't the warm Summer Ruby was expecting.

"I didn't realize Vale was in the habit on cloning their Hunters." Ghira held onto Summer's hand, expressing his displeasure.

"May we go inside, or will you continue trying to crush my hand?" Summer brokered no anger or pain at Ghira's fearsome grip.

He let her hand go, begrudgingly respecting the High Commander for not shying away from him, and gestured for them to follow him to the dining room. As their table was only suited to serve four, each team sat together on one side, crowding behind their leaders, while the Belladonnas spread out, Blake joining her mother's side. Kara lingered between Blake and her own team.

Bianca sealed the room, keeping her glyphs out of sight.

Summer toyed with her glass of water, preferring to let her host stew in his thoughts. Two nearly identical teams show at his doorsteps, one of which contains his daughter and the other, also containing a Faunus of heavy resemblance to Kali.

Ghira didn't know where to start. The Commander he had hoped to intimidate had done instead the same to him, brushing aside his handshake and walking into his home with a massive scythe. Around him sat his returned daughter and next to her sat another lookalike.

"We are not clones." Summer finished her water and placed her glass down. "You're observant but we are future versions of Team RWBY from another dimension, come to this dimension through breaking the laws of physics."

"Then you have my apologies for my husband's rash accusations." Kali stepped in, knowing Ghira was too proud to apologize. "Not everyday your only daughter returns but another one finds her way home."

"Miss Ro- Ruby introduced her team." Ghira swallowed tensely, the twitching glare from Ruby causing him to remember what she told him about her name. "What should we call you?"

"Kara is your older daughter, Bianca is the white haired one, and Nova is my half sister. Together we form High Command designation SKBN."

"What's a High Commander?" Ruby asked.

"It means your mother is the highest ranking Hunter in Vale and commands all of them." Ghira kept his eyes on Summer. "It was a rank only used during the Great War and has never been used since, and the only reason I know about it is because our records still contain the history of the last High Commanders of Remnant."

"You know the history well." Summer nodded.

"What?" The combined shock of Team RWBY caused everyone to look towards them. "When?"

"Since Ozpin decided he needed to start getting his Hunters ready. He may be a great peacetime leader, but in my dimension, I was a wartime leader, and he needed one."

"You know what appointing a High Commander means?" Summer again nodded. "The other states won't take it lightly."

"Then they'll have to take it up with the High General of Atlas and me." Summer slipped into her monotone. "Ironwood will fight besides us against the White Fang."

"Is that why you're here?" Ghira nearly broke the table he sat behind. "My people had nothing to do with the White Fang's attack on Beacon Academy!"

"Belladonna, if I had even an inkling you were behind the attack then you would be reliving the time of the High Commanders of the Great War instead of speaking with me."

"Who were the High Commanders of the Great War?" Blake had to ask.

"It is incorrectly noted in history how the Great War came to an end. While it was in the Vacuoan Desert the war ended, it was not the Warrior King of Vale who ended it. During the time of the Great War, there were no Academies established yet and the Hunters were simple people who learned to use their Aura to battle Grimm, but fought alongside their city-states." Summer paused, letting everyone absorb forgotten history. "The four leaders of the Hunters descended on the battle of the Desert, tired of the infighting between humanity rather than the fight against Grimm."

"They slaughtered nearly three million soldiers." Kali whispered and Summer's scythe shivered. "And the war was over. With only a few thousand left alive, the remaining leaders divided Remnant along the borders we know today and the four Hunters were forgotten, not allowed a place among history in an effort to stymie others from attaining such power."

"Menagerie remains the only country on the planet with unaltered records of the war. We have no reason to edit them, no need to hide the past." Ghira finished. "But even we don't have records of their names, not even their genders, or appearances, so they were given the honorary titles of High Commanders, placing them above all."

"If Headmaster Ozpin deemed it necessary to bestow upon someone the title of High Commander, then I can only hope you don't set your sights on us." Ghira solemnly intoned.

"You have nothing to worry about from me Chieftain." Summer placated. "I've shed enough blood in my dimension and have never shed the blood of an innocent. The title of High Commander is nothing but a distinctive title of honour granted to the leader of a Hunter faction. The prefix 'High' is added after a Commander distinguishes himself on the field of battle."

"If you're not here for retribution, then why are you here Miss Rose?" Ghira asked. "You brought me my daughter home. Was this a gesture of good will, or are you softening me up for something?"

"I brought Blake here because I happened to be having a meeting with you. Nothing more. And it's Missus." Ghira grunted out a sorry. "I came personally to ask for Menagerie's help with a project neither Vale nor Atlas could handle together."

"We have no standing army and our Hunters are ill provisioned compared to yours." Kali answered.

"I'm not asking for military help. One city-state would be enough to eradicate your island. No offence." Ghira grimaced. He knew only too well how far behind Menagerie was behind in population compared to the four kingdoms. "What I need from you is land, food, and shelter."

"Not for your own Hunters, I think." Ghira pounded the table heartily. "Even under invitation from me, this would anger the city-states I didn't invite."

"Not yet, but maybe you'll see fit to grant provisional bases for both my Hunters and Ironwood's Hunters." Summer lead on. "What do you know about the Schnee labour camps in Atlas?"

"Their despicable practice should be coined as 'death camps'." Kali said. "We know little about them except for the rumours of cruelty as my people are forced to mine infernal Dust."

"What would you say if I could liberate those camps and bring all of the Faunus here?" Summer's question left the Belladonnas stunned. "By estimates from my dimension, there are approximately 80,000 Faunus living as little more than legal slaves under the SDC. If the operation Ironwood and I have designed works, then the refugees can't stay in Vale or in Atlas and would be required to move here, to Menagerie."

"From what I understand, your own Hunters don't even number 10,000. Why would you leave your country undefended while you rescue Faunus you don't know? Why would Ironwood even considered attacking SDC property?"

"The White Fang will only grow in strength. They've showed the world they have enough manpower and enough information to besiege a Hunter Academy and the Vytal Festival Coliseum, also taking advantage of Atlesian droids to assist them in their objectives. One of their rally cries is against these labour camps and if we get rid of them, less people have a need to join them and instead consider moving to Menagerie instead."

"Menagerie has existed for eighty years but most Faunus continue to refuse to move here, preferring to live in one of the four kingdoms, regardless if they live as second class citizens."

"That's because they're stubborn. Not many find it easy to pick up their entire livelihood and move to an unknown place, but for the 80,000 currently trapped in slavery, this place will make all the difference."

"Menagerie still has room to expand immensely, but we don't currently have funds to quickly accommodate and feed 80,000 people."

Summer knew she didn't possess the funds either, having already thrown the majority of her budget behind Mountain Glenn and the repairs of Beacon, but she currently had several millions of dirty Lien just waiting to be transferred to Menagerie.

"Unfortunately, I can't spare much money after the assault on Beacon and another project I have going on." Summer masked herself behind a veneer of civility. "We can provide temporary shelters since there's meant to be a refugee camp on Patch as an intermediary between Atlas and Menagerie, but foodstuff would drain my own Hunters."

"How much money are we talking?" Weiss jutted into the conversation, knowing more about financial management than the usual person. Team SKBN said nothing, already expecting this from the guilt ridden girl.

"Building material isn't a problem as Menagerie has a large lumber industry and land is aplenty. The largest concern would be food, and while Mistral would be happy to help, it wouldn't be cheap."

Weiss tapped a few buttons on her scroll, pulling up her most recent bank account statement. She grimaced for only a few seconds, not expecting such a large sum to be in her account. Jacques was planning something if he had given her this much just before she was meant to return to Atlas.

"Would this buy enough for you?" Weiss passed her scroll to the Chieftain, who looked ready to keel over at the sheer amount of numbers staring back at him.

"Why?" Ghira slid the scroll back.

"It's money my former family made through the exploitation of Faunus and not mine to begin with. Better it be used to help the Faunus over me spending it on frivolous luxuries."

"Thank you, Miss Ironwood. We won't forget this." Kali smiled warmly at the former Schnee.

"Unfortunately, even if you wished to transfer your fortune to Menagerie, it can't be done here. There's no CCTS tower to connect to your account back in Atlas."

Weiss frowned, her plan of righting a past wrong gone to pieces.

"By the way, how did you manage to get a message here in less than 24 hours?" Summer asked her wife. "It would have had to be a physical copy, and you never left Beacon yesterday."

Kara smiled impishly.

"Your message came by carrier raven." Ghira answered for her, seeing his second daughter wasn't going to play ball. Kara frowned and narrowed her eyes at her father.

"If you still want to give your fortune over to Menagerie as reparations, then you'll have to personally empty your account into physical Lien before having it transported here." Summer supplied. "But I'd rather you buy the materials directly and send them here rather than have to move copious amounts of cash only to have to move it again."

"I'll buy everything when I make it back to Beacon then." Weiss confirmed her wishes. "And I'm going to spend some of it to get a CCTS tower up and running. Would save everyone time."

"With your generous donation, we'll be able to accelerate our plans for Menagerie by several years." Ghira raised his glass. "To Miss Ironwood."

Everyone else also toasted, happy their meeting had been successful. Ruby was only barely holding back from assaulting Summer with questions about their plans to liberate the labour camps.

Another few minutes were spent hashing out the details of the camp, especially when it needed to be ready. They had little over a week to get places for 80,000 people up and running and Summer decided Ozpin would not have to finish setting up the camp and instead gather any materials they weren't sending to Glenn and have it ready to be transported to Menagerie. Her largest concern was fuel, but her ships would be refueled regardless on Signal. She would also supply any medical attention needed during their transit and keep several teams on Menagerie for added protection in case Atlas came knocking.

Everyone's demeanor shifted from formal to a more familiar tone as the meeting between leaders ended.

"Would you like us to leave while you reunite with your daughter?" Summer offered.

"Nay. You brought our daughters home and are part of their teams. Your teams are as good as family, even you Schnees." Kara perked up, grabbing her dad's attention, not expecting them to immediately accept a future version of their daughter home. Given a few hours, sure. "What? You're my daughter, even if you're not from this world, so tell me, how strong do you get in the future?"

Of course Ghira would ask his daughter that and Kara was left floundering without having a way to communicate.

"She's an S-ranked Hunter capable of fighting me to a standstill." Summer answered for her. "That speaks enough of her skills."

"She should speak for herself. She usually isn't this shy." Kara banged her head on table repeatedly.

"She can't speak." Came the unanimous reply from Team RWBY when no one on SKBN deemed it necessary to reply.

Kara smiled weakly at her mother before lifting her head to show her scar. Kali dropped her cup, weakly scorching the tabletop, while Ghira nearly broke the table.

"Who?" The poor table forebodingly creaked under Ghira's grip as he imagined strangling the idiot who dared hurt his daughter.

"Adam." Summer replied simply. "The same man who dared attack Beacon a few days ago and the same man who scarred Bianca over here."

"We were horrified when we heard the news. The Kingdom of Vale isn't perfect, but it certainly didn't deserve what happened." Kali sighed. "We were both so worried. You weren't too hurt, were you?"

"Adam stabbed me." Blake lifted her shirt to show her own scar. It wasn't as red as as it was yesterday, but the stitches remained.

"See? I knew she'd be fine." Ghira crossed his arms, scoffing, all the while showing off his own battle wounds on them. "What's a little scar?"

"That's isn't the slightest bit true." Kali swatted at her husband. "You should've seen him pacing." Ghira had the decency to turn his blushing face away.

"You guys had nothing to worry about." Yang butted in. "I've seen Blake in action, and trust me, she's got some moves."

"And what exactly do you mean by that, Miss Xiao-Long?" Yang slowly turned to face Ghira, wide eyed at the blunder of her wording.

"I would be dead if it weren't for her." Blake interjected while Yang sputtered about in her defense. "Adam would, and should have killed me if it wasn't for her. Leave her alone."

"Is that how you lost your arm?" Kali looked over at the bandaged stump and then looked over to the mechanical arm attached to Nova's shoulder.

"No biggie." Yang defaulted to head scratching, grateful Kali diverted Ghira's ire away from her. "I get a cool metal one today, I hope?" Yang confirmed today was the scheduled operation with a quick nod from Nova.

Kali rose and gave her a hug. "You're always welcome here. Thank you." Ghira wasn't one for sentimentality and gave her a nod instead.

"I like her." Kali whispered as she passed Blake on her way back to her seat, a knowing smirk on her face.

"Mom!" Blake whispered back, ears flattened against her head. Yang disguised her smirk behind a cough, discreetly winking at the Belladonna matriarch.

"What?" Kali looked at her daughter inquisitively. "She saves your life and you're afraid to even look at her."

"She did her fair share of looking in the shower this morning." Yang bantered back easily, before paling as the table finally broke under Ghira's strength.

Her chances for a hasty exit dropped to zero as she collided with a white glyph.

"Weiss!?" Yang accused but the girl only pointed towards her older self, so she decided instead to hide herself behind Nova.

"Does that mean I won't be getting any grandchildren in the future?" Kali placated her husband with a light touch to his arm, completely fine her daughter was dating her teammate. "Maybe from you, Kara?"

Kara pointed to her wife, but instead of Ghira continuing to wreak havoc on the table, he nodded approvingly.

"How come you get a nod and I get a broken table for dating his daughter?" Yang shirked under Ghira's glare.

"Because he knows I could strike him down before he even begins to move." Yang scoffed at Summer's words.

Her next words were cut off as Summer unleashed her Aura, directing it at Team RWBY. Its monstrous presence choked them as it permeated the air and froze them in their spots. Even the Belladonnas, who were mercifully spared the brunt of the Aura, began to sweat as Summer continued to hold the younger team in her grip.

After Summer decided to reign her Aura in, Team RWBY took in large, collective breaths of precious air, as if they would never again get to taste it again. Yang stared at Summer with distrust, adding another tick to her collection of irregularities with Summer. Through the oppressive onslaught, she felt exactly why Nova had refused to describe Summer earlier.

Summer was a monster after all, and how could they have told Ruby her new mother was anything but.

A loud knock on the front door of the mansion disturbed her from her thoughts.

"Darn it, I completely forgot about the meeting." Ghira excused himself, standing from the table and moving to the foyer. "Give me a moment."

"Is everything okay?" Blake asked.

"Yes dear, just poor timing. He can reschedule." Kali chose to hide behind her teacup. "It's just been hard dealing with them lately."

"Dealing with who?" Blake and her team leaned in.

"The White Fang." Kali tried to hide her uneasiness behind a smile.

"What?" Team RWBY were immediately on their feet, a stark contrast to Team SKBN. Summer and Kara were just creepily smiling at their continued fortune. This would be another chance to send an envoy scurrying back to the leader of the White Fang.

Blake couldn't made it out of the room, colliding with Bianca's impermeable bubble.

"Bianca!" The accused shrugged, telling them it was an order from Summer and she was obligated to follow it.

"I have no jurisdiction on this island and as much as I want to go confront them, I can't." Summer ordered. "Sit and wait for our host."

"But mom…" Ruby's whine withered away under the fearsome threat of Summer's presence. "They attacked our school; they attacked our home."

"That is neither here nor now, so please go make yourselves scarce while I deal with this." She released another blast of Aura to make her point, making sure to contain it within the confines of the room. They understood the threat, even if three of them believed she wouldn't hurt them, and went out into the backyard.

True to her word, Ghira walked back into room with two others trailing beside him.

"My apologies gentlemen, but I didn't expect my last meeting to last as long as it did. This is Commander Rose of Beacon." The two froze at the sight of Summer kneeling by the table, staring at them predatorily. "Commander, this is Corsac and Fennec Albain. They are representatives of the White Fang here on Menagerie."

"Pleasure as always to meet members of the group fighting so staunchly for equality." Nova was trying her hardest not to burst into giggles. "I only wish the Fang didn't choose its venue as Amity and Beacon.."

"That is precisely what we wished to discuss with you, Your Grace. Sadly, it appears the Vale branch of the Fang is no longer operating under orders from High Leader Khan. Rather, they've elected to follow the rule of one Adam Taurus." Summer's lips curled into a smile. "It is such a regret his extreme philosophies have led to such a loss of life."

"It was quite fortunate his attack was so terribly managed then. You'll be pleased to know Vale suffered not a single civilian casualty from the invasion and your rogue cell was soundly dealt with."

"Then it is such a relief to hear then." Bianca could see the stress of their forced smiles. "The High Council could do nothing about his group until this incident."

"Taurus' fanatics are now registered as terrorists. My only regret is they chose to attack a Hunter installation over any other target. Shame those misguided children had to die. I only hope the White Fang is able to turn Taurus back to their side, or any further deaths will be on his head."

"Then perhaps you and High Leader Khan can come to an accord. We only wish for peace between Vale and the White Fang while we campaign for our equality. We understand if you bear any skepticism towards our claims as our tactics are, admittedly, more aggressive since His Grace stepped down as High Leader and became Chieftain of Menagerie."

"We have ample documentation from the Council as well as several strategies to apprehend and punish these strays if His Grace cares to review them."

"I will, but another day. I'd like some time to reconnect with my daughter."

"You don't have to worry yourself about Taurus' group. If the White Fang truly had no responsibility for his actions then I only hope your leader extends the same courtesy to me when I get to dealing with them. We wouldn't want him besmirching your good name after all." They had trapped themselves even without Summer having to do anything.

It was clear neither of the two had expected Summer to offer to deal with their problem, rather expecting it to be an internal affair they could solve with the help of Ghira Belladonna, as a former leader of the Fang.

"Very well. I'll report to our leader you wish to speak with her." They made to leave. "It was a pleasure to see you again young Blake. We were saddened when we heard of your departure from the White Fang, but understand if you can no longer support our cause."

"Goodbye gentlemen. Do pass my good will to Sienna." Ghira escorted them back out through the front door before returning back to the table. Nova burst into uncontrollable giggles, no longer able to control herself, prompting Bianca to join her.

"I wasn't expecting the Fang to be so incompetent in this timeline." Nova barely managed to say through her laughter. "They've disavowed Adam and the Vale branch, and now can't do anything to retaliate against Summer. How dumb can they be?"

"They're using their failure to the best of their advantage, cutting off a part of the organization while transferring all members out to other branches, letting Summer destroy remnants of a deserted shell, wasting resources on a target moved away."

"They failed at provoking a war between Vale and Atlas, but will still work on their plans for Vacuo and Mistral, or until another plan gets created. All we can do now is gather information and destroy Adam's White Fang before they finish moving."

"Then Operation:Redemption starts. They've really made it easy for us this time." Nova finished their thoughts.

Easy for now, but Salem wouldn't take this quietly. One failure wouldn't spurn her; it'd only make her more determined for her next plan to work, and planning against her was a nightmare.

None of them mentioned their inside man working against Salem, but even with Neo sending nothing more than information, Salem was more dangerous when cornered, and when her own plans started failing, she'd be at the edge. And nothing was more dangerous than a near omnipotent immortal who's been slowly planning to ruin her brother's work.

Family spats were the worst, and humanity happened to unknowingly sit in the mother of all crossfires. Worse than a Thanksgiving with the Schnees and Belladonnas. Whatever Thanksgiving was.

"What is Operation:Redemption?" Ghira asked, taking his spot at the table again. Bianca encased the room again, trapping all of them in a bubble, just in case anyone was lurking outside.

"In our dimension, the attack on Beacon provoked a war between Vale and Atlas, and rather than use my Hunters in the war, I ordered them to locked down Vale and began to eradicate anyone who dared violate the border and personally went hunting after the White Fang." Summer stated casually, ignoring the requisite flinches from anyone who didn't know their history. "This time, I've been advised to take a less… violent approach."

Nova coughed, taking full credit for the idea.

"With Atlas and Vale in a tenuous peace, there's no need to go to such extreme lengths as the genocides I participated in. No. This time, we're going to try to save the White Fang, instead of tearing them to shreds."

"And how will you do that?" Kali asked, clearly interested in their plans.

"Spoilers." Summer smiled and a woman in a prison cell across the universe sneezed. "But you have nothing to worry about any aggression from my Hunters towards the Fang unless they initiate it first."

"Not even if I grant permission for a provisional base?" Summer honestly had to think about the offer, weighing the pros and cons of having a base on Menagerie.

Another three bases would have to be allowed, one for each existing Hunter faction, and would give Menagerie guaranteed protection from any hostile. With Glenn already in the processes of being established, another base would tax their resources to the extreme, including Hunters themselves.

She had a better idea.

"I'll tell you under one condition. I don't want a base, and I know Ironwood wouldn't want one either. Some of the money Weiss is giving you is already going to a CCTS, but what is every tower always surrounded by?" Bianca rubbed the bridge of her nose, wondering how she could have missed this.

"A Huntsmen Academy." Kali caught on, eyes wide at her implications. "We have a small one, but nothing on the scale the four kingdoms have."

"Ironwood and I will sanction an official Academy here, and Headmasters Nikos and Caldwell will be invited to help. I can spare a few teachers and can find others." Summer didn't forget of her own obligations to Beacon, when Ozpin had roped them in as professors as probation to test them. She didn't doubt Ozpin could strip away her titles as easy as it took for him to breath, and he knew she wouldn't fight it.

Her duty was to her people, and if Ozpin deemed her incapable of performing said duty, then she'd willingly disavow the title and pass it to a Hunter who could perform it better.

"Done." Ghira agreed, wanting his country to finally rise to equal standing as one the four. Now Summer not only had a base, but a permanent installation from where Operation:Redemption could be deployed from, with help from the other Hunter factions. "Now, the operation?"

"Redemption's first phase depends on bringing the SDC to its knees, but its second and oncoming phases deal with ripping through the White Fang's influence, by giving Faunus another group they can turn to. The Black Fang."

"It's the unofficial name of a countergroup to the White Fang." Bianca clarified. "You left the White Fang because of their turn to violence, just as Blake and Kara did. Your Academy will double as a staging ground against the White Fang, one with actual ties to the other Hunter factions, with real influence on their councils."

"No." Summer didn't look surprised at Ghira's initial reaction, fully expecting him to refuse the creation of another potentially violent group.

Without Menagerie's support, then their Vale branch would only contain the Hunters specially assigned and any Faunus who would find the organization by themselves. If they were, however, supported by Menagerie, then word of their support would garner more recruits and pull them away from the White Fang.

"My end goal with the group isn't an actual fight, Chieftain, but to destroy the White Fang's image. As much as I don't want to lose men in a fight they started, there'll be inevitable casualties. You can think of my Hunters as an auxiliary force, a preventative force against the White Fang, while your new group will get actual progress done with our influence."

Ghira grumbled quietly under his breath, but Kali managed to sooth him.

"As much as my husband may not want to support another potential terrorist group, at least I understand Kara wouldn't be doing this if she didn't trust you." Kali lightly patted Ghira's face, telling him she knew more. "Kara is as much as our daughter as Blake is, and if your plan is good enough for her, then it's good enough for me."

"I can't use the Black Fang as you fear I will. It is your organization first and foremost." Summer tried to chuckle, but it came out raggedy and forced. "Besides, Kara would murder me if I even thought of using it in that way. There are still many items on my list before I even begin to push the Black Fang out into the open, but you'll know when I do."

"Then, you have my trust, and my support, for now." Ghira added, officially closing out their meeting. "Kara, you'll keep her in line, won't you?"

Kara shot him a thumbs up and an eye smile. She was the most powerful weapon against Summer, and she knew it.

"Then I look forward to our alliance with you. Didn't think we'd get so much done in one afternoon." Summer's eye twinkled majestically. As much as she wanted to believe they could crush Salem before she could, she know her too well. She was planning something, but she'd have to wait for her reaction to Summer Rose's supposed resurrection.

Neo happened to cause collateral damage wherever she went, and the resurrection of a dead Hunter would throw just enough of a wrench into Salem's plans.

Redemption was coming along well, as long as they could get those Faunus out of those camps. Some would undoubtedly join the Black Fang and help them pursue their goals of equality, and Summer would make sure they knew exactly who helped them.

"You can expect massive shipments being flown in from Mistral in about two days. I'll ask Nikos to coordinate it with his Hunters. He owns Ozpin a favour."

"We won't forget this."

"I sure hope you won't, because if this goes to hell, Beacon faces a war against the SDC." Summer's scythe gleamed red. " And I'm not planning on losing. Now, should we let Team RWBY back in so you can continue threatening Yang?"

"You're lucky I can only threaten you." Kara went out to the back door. "If you harm my daughter, I don't care if you're in charge of Beacon. I will hunt you down."

Summer smiled back carelessly, unnerving her father-in-law.

"If I ever harm Kara, then you're the least of my worries." Summer leant forward. "And I promise you, that if you betray my team, Beacon, or the country you love, there won't be a Menagerie left when I'm done with it."

Contingency:Prune would be put into effect, and Bianca and Nova would be required to put aside their loyalty to Summer, and contain their own leader. If Bianca was unable to contain her, or Nova unable to subdue her, then they'd be required to kill her, on her own orders.

The had only ever been one instance where Prune was ever activated, on Kara's own orders, several weeks after Summer's rescue from her prison. Bianca had declared her mentally fit for active service, but Summer had lost it on the field, devolving into her instincts where she would absentmindedly carve through her enemies; whoever she deemed was a threat to her Hunters.

Bianca had managed to trap her in a sphere of glyphs after she'd exhausted herself and was left with no Aura to fight her capture. Summer had taken her loss of sanity well, taking each account from her Hunters and analyzing how, why, and when she lost control.

Summer had started sparring with Neo after that and never lost control ever again. The landscape around Glenn had been permanently scarred and even Grimm avoided the area completely, making it one of the safest zones to remain in.

"Now, what do you do in Menagerie for fun?"

* * *

As much as Blake didn't want to leave her home again, she knew she had an obligation to another home; the home she had created with Team RWBY.

Kali made Blake promise to at least visit every few weeks and Ghira had snuck a hug in when he thought no one was looking. Kara got a less severe regimen of the same, but unknowingly to them, she was to lead Redemption and could justify any trip to Menagerie.

Then again, her superior was also her wife.

Everyone else got a hug from Kali too, even Weiss and Bianca, while Ghira tried to crush Yang's hand. The small amount of practice she had with her Semblance let her avoid losing another one, and she gained a smidgen of respect from him for it. Summer escaped by letting him feel her Aura, and as much experience as he had, he couldn't fight against it.

It was a rather quiet ride back to Beacon until they crossed into the range of Beacon's CCTS tower, where several of their scrolls went off. Team High Command all received various reports on their projects: Glenn, the SDC Rescue, and information from Qrow's network.

Weiss, however, received a terrifying message from Winter and immediately gave it to Summer to read.

Lord Schnee was personally coming to retrieve his daughter. If he was coming to Beacon, then he was dragging armed non-droid guards with him, and Summer would be damned if he was allowed to casually stroll onto her campus. She was dialing for Glynda before she finished reading the text.

"Glynda, time until Jacques Schnee arrives at Beacon?"

"Don't I get a hello first?" Glynda sighed. "Less than two hours until he lands. Winter forwarded his itinerary as a warning."

"When his pilot asks for permission to land, deny it and if he presses it, you know what to do." Summer gave her orders. "Make sure the district ferry treats him as a normal visitor to Beacon."

"Yes ma'am."

"And stop torturing James. Let him take a break."

"It's not torture if you enjoy it." James' voice butted in, letting them know he was fine. "Who else would keep her company? You already chased Ozpin and Qrow out of Vale."

"Don't give into her demands Dad." Bianca called out towards the phone. "Stay strong."

"Shut up James or I'll get the crop." He quickly shut up, not saying another word.

"I'll relay your orders to the air traffic controller and have a few teams on standby just in case his craft refuses to listen to orders." Glynda ended the call, knowing if Summer needed to give anymore instructions then she'd already have given them.

Jacques would suffer an immense amount of humiliation when he'd be forced to land out in the district and forced to take the ferry. His security force would be disarmed and left with only their fists and surrounded by hundreds of Hunters in full gear, and a High Commander with a mission to annihilate his company.

"Weiss, do you still want to give your money to Menagerie?" She nodded yes and Summer handed over her scroll with the Beacon account on the screen. In mere seconds, the lucrative Schnee bank account of Weiss Schnee was emptied in its entirety. "Unfortunately, Jacques has come for you earlier than we predicted, but James is still here and so am I. You're not going back unless you want to."

"I don't." Weiss resolutely stated. If Jacques wanted her back, then he'd have to get through not only her own team, but the entirety of a military base already on alert from the attack a few days ago.

"When we land, we'll only have less than ten minutes to prepare for his arrival. I will not let him take you because you are my Hunter." Summer stooped down and grabbed Weiss' chin, making her meet her eyes. "Jacques will have nothing to threaten you with and can't force you to go with him."

"What about James? They're both on the Council."

"James can take care of himself." James wouldn't be on the Council in a few days with Winter taking his place. She could handle herself against him along with his help. "He'll also be there." Weiss nodded. "Now sit tight, let your Commander handle it, and make sure to not even hint at our rescue operation. Your team will be there to support you, but you'll keep quiet."

"Do we get to help you when you go to Atlas to rescue the Faunus?"

"No." Bianca answered this time. "You're still students and have no place on a black ops as massive as this. None of you have any flight experience either. You can however be part of teams being sent to Menagerie as support."

"Woo! Thanks." Ruby crashed into Bianca, giving her a hug. Summer hadn't hugged her in a while and Ruby's hug shook her, eyes widening. Yang took careful note of this, all the while under Summer's careful watch. She was catching on and noticing the cracks in her mask and definitely noticed how wrong Summer's Aura felt.

"You've noticed, haven't you?" Summer whispered in her ear as Bianca struggled to dislodge Ruby while everyone else watched. "You've suspected something wrong with me for awhile."

"Everything about you is wrong. The way you act, the way you treat Ruby, the way your Aura feels, and the mask you wear." Yang retorted. "Blake wore a mask too, to hide her ears and her past. You're hiding something, but I don't know what."

"I'm hiding my affliction to protect Ruby. It's a part of who I am, and Ozpin, Qrow, and Glynda already know. I'll tell when you get out of surgery. It'll be a good test of calibration if you can handle a scroll with my medical records."

"Are you dangerous?" Yang met Kara's eyes, unable to meet Summer's.

"Not to you." She didn't answer the question and Yang would hold it against her until she got answers.

Yang spent the rest of the flight eyeing Summer cautiously as she interacted with everyone. She had no doubt the rest of Team SKBN knew about Summer's secret and could deal with her 'affliction'. Kara sat by her side, the silent companion making sure she didn't share her suspicions with her own team.

She only stopped glaring at Summer when Nova disappeared back into the cockpit to land the craft back at Beacon. Summer had done nothing during the flight, only reading through communiqués and answering them while Team SKBN discussed their trip to Menagerie, ranging from Ruby pestering Weiss for information on the amount of money she had had to Blake laughing about her father threatening Yang.

When the bullhead landed, Team SKBN exploded into action, quickly gathering their weapons and jumping out of the hangar, rushing to prepare Beacon for the arrival of one of the most hated men on the planet.

Team RWBY was left to scramble after them, following them towards the courtyard where a round table sat with four seats around it. In one of them sat the former General of Atlas, James Ironwood, considerably less dressed as usual; in grey sweats.

"Ah, Summer, enjoyed your trip?" James placed cups of tea in front of the seats to his right. "Accomplished much?"

"Menagerie has agreed to the relocation of the refugees and the construction of a CCTS, along with us helping to establish an Academy, but Ghira was hesitant to accept the formation of the Black Fang. We'll have to hold back on its creation and find another way."

"It was a long shot anyways. I can bring up the next phase when the Council convenes to meet my replacement. Should be a nice shock for them when the Schnees can no longer afford to line their pockets."

"I don't know when my Council will learn about my appointment, but I'll be ready for them. Have Winter and Qrow left?"

"Left just after you. Can't wait to get reports of Qrow driving her insane." He chuckled wryly. "They should be able to get you the information you need."

"Good. Jacques arrived already?" She knew the answer as three bullheads circled the area above the school, patrolling in case an unannounced craft entered the area. "How'd he take it?"

"He threatened Glynda with various forms of grievances,annoyances, and a threat of embargoing Beacon." Summer frowned. No one threatened her Hunters. "But the warning shots fired his way made him disengage and land somewhere else. Can't wait to get an earful from him."

"He can't exactly do much; just rant and rave. We hold everything and soon he won't hold anything." The ferry from the districts finished its docking sequence and opened its doors. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear, and Weiss, good of you to join us." Summer left the seat between her and James open specifically for her, distancing her their guest. The rest of Teams SKBN and RWBY hovered ijust outside the courtyard.

"Dad." Weiss greeted watching the ferry. Jacques Schnee and a guard of four security officers strolled down the ramp, looking considerably less threatening without any weapons. Summer could tell Schnee didn't appreciate being rerouted like a commoner by the large vein on his forehead.

He clearly wasn't expecting the welcome waiting for him.

"James, didn't realise you were here." He sat down in the last remaining seat and poured himself some tea. "Always a pleasure to see you, and Weiss, your mother and I missed you terribly. How was your year without us?"

"Freeing." Weiss answered, keeping her composure and Aura chained down in case she 'accidentally' caused some damage. "Learned the beginner's material of being a Hunter, made a few friends, started dating my partner. The usual of boarding school."

"Top marks I assume?" Jacques didn't betray anything in his features, the previous vein in his forehead flattening down. Weiss nodded. "And this partner of yours? I'd love to meet him and see who caught the eyes of my daughter."

"Her." Weiss held his gaze and could see anger roiling in his irises. She had no doubt she'd be in for some discipline if she ever made if back to Castle Schnee. Only their public setting prevented him from scolding her heavily or worse.

"Hmm. Come Weiss, we've wasted enough time here. Time for us to return home. I just need to find Ozpin or Goodwitch and tell them of your departure."

"That won't be necessary." Summer replied, speaking for the first time since Jacques arrived.

"And who're you to tell me what to do?" His demeanor shifted rapidly to hostile. "I am her father, and I have a right to withdraw her from this school."

"Wrong. Weiss is my Hunter, and you have no right to withdraw while she remains a Hunter." Summer answered back in her previously unused monotone, causing shivers to run up everyone's spine. "And I'm Summer Rose, the current Commander of Beacon and Ozpin's replacement."

His demeanor took a 180 degree turn.

"Miss Rose-" Summer interrupted him, correcting him to Commander, causing the forehead vein to reappear. He was going to get her title right. "Commander Rose, I'm her father and this is a school. I always have the right to withdraw her whenever I deem it fit."

"Wrong." Her voice became even more devoid of emotion and everyone listening received goosebumps. "She is a Hunter, an adult in the eyes of Vale's laws, and in my military service. Until she expresses the need to left, or I deem her unfit for duty, you have no right to dictate where she goes."

"I don't think you quite understand who I am, _Miss_ Rose." Jacques stood up from his seat and tried to intimidate her, getting right in her face. "I am Jacques Schnee, the owner of the Schnee Dust Corporation, supplier of the Dust _your_ Hunters use, and the richest man on Remnant."

Summer sipped her tea, all the while keeping eye contact, unnerving the man with her void of an eye.

She snapped her fingers.

Movement exploded around the colonnades surrounding the courtyard they sat in, revealing Hunters sitting on top of each column with weapons trained at their guest.

"And I'm the woman who decides whether you leave my courtyard alive. With one word, I can have you strewn across this plaza." Summer engulfed her guests with her Aura, paralyzing them. "You assumed the right to fly into _my_ military base, you assumed the right to threaten _my_ deputy, and you assumed the right to command _my_ Hunters, yet you are nothing to me. Sit or continue embarrassing yourself."

He begrudgingly sat back down, knowing his own security forces would be ineffective without their weapons against a superior enemy.

"Weiss, do you wish to discontinue your tenure as one of my Hunters?" She nodded no. "Then you have no legal grounds to remove her. If that completes your business at Beacon, then I'll have a team escort you back to your craft." Summer crossed her legs, going back to drinking her tea, evidently done with the conversation.

Jacques seethed quietly, but could do nothing against an entire legion of Hunters dedicated to protecting Weiss from being taken by him. Without another word, he turned at stalked back to the ferry, followed by a team of Hunters.

Weiss let loose a large breath of air as the confrontation ended, looking at the ever composed James before cracking a smile and allowing herself a laugh.

"He didn't even notice I cut my hair." She frowned, playing with the slightly uneven strands. "Says how much he pays attention to me."

"You're not going back and he can't touch you anymore." James ruffled her hair and she swatted it aside, still smiling. "As much as I wished you were one of my Hunters, you'll be safer away from Atlas."

"He still doesn't know about you becoming a Vale citizen and he'll be in for a surprise if he tries to pursue this in our court system, regardless if he uses the heir clause. You're no longer part of the Schnees so it's invalidated. He's lucky I didn't order him blown from the sky."

Killing the idiot would accomplish nothing and Nova would immediately veto the idea. He'd suffer a slow and agonizing political death before being shipped off to Menagerie to answer for his crimes against humanity.

"You're dismissed for now, but do inform Yang her appointment for her new arm is tonight."

Summer had something to check.

* * *

 _Monty Memorial - Around 2300_

Team SKBN and RWBY had packed themselves into the room adjoining to the operating theatre. The former were only here for the fallout Summer would be going through once Yang learned of her past. She was already in her hospital gown with her hair tucked into a ponytail and into a cap, playing with the dressing on her stump.

"How long will I be out for, and when can I expect to return to full strength?" She asked Nova, going to the person who had gone through this already.

"Attaching the arm will take about twelve hours, depending on any complications, and you'll have to be awake for the entirety of it. You'll be anesthetized first for where they attach the replacement bone, but when they reattach the nerve endings, you won't be anesthetized. It's hurt like a bitch, and pray they get the connections right the first time or you'll go through it again."

"You're just saying that to scare me...right?" She received blank stares of pity from most of Team SKBN.

"Reattaching the nerves to the most complicated part of the body such as the hand is a task even the most skilled surgeons have trouble with. Each finger and joint needs to articulate properly or you'll be compromised on the field. Just be happy they've managed to cut the time in half."

Yang gulped. Maybe she should have rethought getting her arm cut off in the first place, but the quiet Faunus sitting in the corner made it all the worthwhile.

It was going to be a long night, but information always had a price.

Summer's eye twinkled.

* * *

AN: Finishing this chapter took way too much brain power. I know I said I'd release it around New Year's but I was dead wrong. I knew where I wanted to take the story, but struggled so much to actually get it there. It's less words than I thought it was going to be, even if I planned to have the confrontation with Jacques as a complete separate chapter, but Summer wasn't going to mince words with this man. I didn't want to add pointless word filling fluff as everything was dialogue driven this chapter. Also had to watch Vol.4 Ep.5 (?) to get a good feel for the Belladonnas and they're the best parents Blake could ask for.

Next chapter: Chapter Eleven - Black. Pov: Neo.

She somehow became one of my main characters when I wasn't looking. Ozpin made me do it. I've found myself loving writing from her point of view.

This is also where my outline for the story comes to a close so the next chapters will be more sketchy until I get a blueprint going. Also, someone tell me if the cover story for this fanfic shows up as it doesn't show up when I view it.

Each chapter title is named for a reason, so have a crack at guessing why.


	11. Eleven - Chance

Chapter Eleven

* * *

 **Chance**

* * *

 _2.5 km above the Nord Sea - 1230 AMT (Atlas Mean Time)_

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na…. BATMAN!

Batman had his own damn private plane and wasn't forced to stowaway on Winter Schnee's luxury flying yacht, and while it was a beautiful and streamlined bullhead, it was tiny and only contained a cockpit.

I wish I was Batman, but being me was so much better. I got to kill people, while he had his whole non-lethal approach to criminals.

Which included me...

I could take him.

Now, I could have taken one of Summer's bullheads, but nooooo, I decided I wanted to get to Atlas immediately and couldn't afford to wait.

Surprises rarely could.

I sat crouched outside the cockpit while Winter and her guest performed actions best left known for older audiences. The bottle of wine Qrow had brought along was my only companion and he was kind enough to leave me a few mouthfuls to help me pass the time.

He had either been massively observant about the shimmer I had let him see, or the bottle had rolled out when Winter jumped him and pressed him down into his seat.

Can't remember which, but I was kind enough to close the cockpit door to give them some privacy.

As much privacy as I could get as my ears could still make out the various noises the two inhabitants emitted, and by the moans coming from Winter, Qrow knew how to work her over.

Amazing what being several thousands meters from anyone you knew caused them to do because they did not act anywhere close to this when I saw them yesterday, but all that sexual tension had to go somewhere.

He definitely knew I was here and doing his best to fuck with me, or I was getting paranoid in my old age, whichever number I happened to be on. I couldn't remember where or when I stopped counting. My memory was going.

At some point I needed to get off and Qrow distracting Winter with his talents worked in my favour as I managed to open the rear hatch and slip away. I didn't need to struggle as the near vacuum pulled me straight out and down. The craft was thankfully depressurized and Winter wouldn't even notice the automatic sealing system kicking in; much too distracted by her boy toy.

I was correct in my estimate of dropping out of the craft as I plummeted down towards the capital districts of Atlas. In the bright and clear afternoon, I could make out Castle Schnee glinting far in the background mountains along with my target: the SDC HQ.

A quick internet search had showed my what it looked like.

It was a beautiful glass skyscraper set smack in the middle of the districts, almost telling everyone this was where the seat of power of Atlas stood.

I wasn't aiming for it.

I angled my descent down towards a park a few blocks away, shrouding my descent to reflect the environment around me. It wasn't perfect, but no one would notice a plummeting blur moving at terminal velocity.

There was still the option of splash landing in the lake, but wet clothing was harder to conceal as it left an annoying trail I needed to cover up and sometimes forgot to. I channeled by Aura around my body, reinforcing every single point, from the skin all the way down to the marrow and impacted the ground hard, leaving a large crater.

Dirt, grass, and rock exploded as my Aura tanked the impact force of a million Joules, shudders of aftershock traveling all the way up to my hips. Barely a percentage of Aura lost, but it was quite a freefall. Had a crick in my neck from the sightseeing on the way down.

Maybe the lake would have been better landing site, but on an afternoon in the city of business, no one ever went to the park for their lunch, and those that did had no easy way to explain the sudden appearance of hole in an otherwise well kept lawn.

Never underestimate the ability of a human to write off the improbable.

Dusting my clothes off, I came across the hole Summer left in my top and the dried blood on my slacks. The scent of copper invaded my nostrils, soothing the adrenaline rush from the fall. I should have changed before I left, but it was a moot point. It wouldn't matter anyhow as any disguise I put on would hide it.

Except for the smell, but there shouldn't be any dog patrols in a building in the middle of the capital districts.

My worst enemy would be any thermographic cameras, but seriously, those were probably installed in their labour camps and not in this building. The worst I had to deal with were the sleepy security guards and the run of the mill CCTV cameras which flickered for the slightest reason.

I was in bigger danger from accidentally bumping into someone, but the average human mind could rationalise almost anything away. They were funny that way.

Another bigger, some might say biggest, danger was me not paying attention. Such as me getting lost in daydreams of massacres and atomic blasts, and running into the janitorial go-kart in charge of maintaining the park.

Picking up and twirling my parasol, I made my way out of the park, ignoring the startled look of the custodian who watched a parasol appear out of the air and then disappear just as quickly. .

In this large amalgamation of districts, no one should notice if I didn't want to be noticed. I just had to do the mundane and wait for the traffic lights to cross and walk along the side of the roads instead of the sidewalks.

My walk to the building was spent altering and perfecting my disguise to not reflect light, and while this should've left a small vantablack humanoid walking about, it didn't. If anyone looked directly at me, my Semblance would react and show them the image of whatever happened to be behind me.

It was an almost sentient part of me and could work against multiple sightlines, bending and creating illusions where and when it saw fit. At worst, someone might notice a shimmer of the illusions shifting before they settled.

I could have chosen or created any corporate shill as a disguise, but I lacked the needed identification to pass as said disguise. At least while around Beacon, I could use the malleable identification Summer provided for me and could pose as Kara.

Waiting until someone entered the revolving doors, I followed behind him in the next compartment.

Just as predicted, there was a large lobby with nothing more than a bored security guard staring at a black and white segmented screen filled with the view from multiple cameras. The largest 'problem' were the gates requiring a keycard.

A problem for anyone who wasn't currently invisible.

Timing a gap in the guard's attention, as if he even had one, I vaulted over the gate, landed, twirled and bowed to him.

He scratched his ear.

I stuck my tongue out at him. Some people didn't appreciate art.

Sucked I didn't even get an applause as I needed to climb several dozen sets of stairs to reach the top floor of the near triple digit story skyscraper. Where else would narcissistic company executives plant their offices?

All those years of climbing stairs was finally going to pay off and I was finally going to get those toned calves every woman wanted. Just what I needed: to add sweat to my already stained slacks and torn top.

Once I reached the eightieth floor, I really started to feel the burn and was forced to slow to a crawl or risk my entire Semblance collapsing due to a lapse in concentration. Summer at least owed me a new top for the effort I was putting in, and Kara owned me a few head scratches. I was so going to collect.

What? I had my own quirks.

Ninety four was the last floor in the seemingly endless staircase to heaven. If a fire broke out then the people at the very top would die faster of smoke inhalation or exhaustion on the way down than the damned building collapsing. Aura just let me jump from any height and land perfectly fine.

Don't try it at home kids.

Seriously, what the fuck did one company need ninety four floors for? Beacon got by with less than four and it managed more collective personnel than this entire company did if you didn't count the 'indentured servants', to use the politically correct term.

Anywho, the top floor was a immaculate hell for the corporate with cheap, but effective carpet, and cubicles crammed next to one another. A few younger workers gossiped in the area they designated as their common area, obviously lacking an actual room to take a break.

Again, a complete lack of security because who the hell was going to trudge up all of those stairs just to avoid the chance of getting compacted into an elevator and risk the entire operation. Surely no one was so dedicated to perform espionage against the richest company on the planet?

Amateurs.

My target, however, sat behind glass walls and doors, indiscriminately typing away at his computer. Entering the office would have to wait until he either left or until someone entered the office.

And would you look at the time.

My arrival just happened to coincide with the usual time almost every executive took lunch, and like clockwork, the man stood from his desk, grabbed a lunch pack, and strode out the door. The soft close feature of the glass door meant it closed slower than the norm.

Repetition and schedules got people killed, on a completely separate note.

A finger in the door invalidated the security system on the door, no matter if it was secured by a fingerprint scanner and a voice recognition box and my gloves meant I would leave no fingerprints, assuming they even detected anyone.

I walked carefully to the desk, avoiding leaving any trace of my presence in the room, not even bothering to sit in the chair.

The schmuck hadn't bothered to log out of his session so gaining access to the literal contents of the SDC Criminal Empire was a breeze. Kara was working her ass off for no reason, running through several million permutations of a password I no longer needed.

I was still hedging my bets on it being 'guest', 'password', or 'admin', but guess I'd never know.

Slotting the USB hidden in my sleeve into the appropriate slot, I began ransacking the hard drive, looking for whatever incriminating information I could find.

Where would I start?

Pictures of course.

I blinked when I opened the folder. Blinked again and cleaned out my eyes this time. Welp. Incriminating evidence was incriminating evidence, but my journey would continue.

But damn, some people needed to learn to separate work life from their private life, especially this kind of private life. At least encrypt the folders and files if you're going to leave them on your work computer.

There were several other unencrypted folders labeled 'Operations' sitting innocently in the Documents tab. Typical when your CSO had a degree in Musical Theory and not in the actual department he was working in.

Easier than stealing candy from a baby, but why would I ever do that when I could go to Mistral and splurge to my heart's content. Everything I needed was in these folders, including guard rotation schedules and numbers, coordinate locations of each camp, average output of each camp, census, etc.

Summer had her work cut out if she was planning to rescue this massive amount of people, but as long as I got a camp for myself, I would be satisfied until our next spar.

Then I'd hunt Ozpin down and beat him with his own cane for letting such atrocities occur on this planet. I have resolute morals, thank you very much, even if they didn't align with most people's.

Copying all the files, just in case there were other things Summer could use, took less than five minutes and I spent the time pacing idly by the windows, gazing down on the city living and profiting from slavery. It brought a snarl of disgust to my face as I had thought humanity couldn't stoop lower, but give them a chance and the worst would enslave who they believed to be their lessers.

Bloody civil wars were once fought for nothing more than the equality everyone deserved, back when society segregated those of higher melanin count from those with less. Women didn't need to ever fight wars for their equal rights, but there had been protests, hissy fits, and general idiocy from the men with death grips on their aging seats of power.

History always loved to repeat itself and was always bound to if people didn't learn from their past.

The file transfer was done in the time I spent pondering the vast stores of memories squished within my brain. Dislodging the stick, I tucked it back into my sleeve and swept the room again to make sure I left no trace.

The entire mission was done within half an hour.

Kara would be pissed and I'd get a cat fight out of it.

It was more disappointing than the time Ozpin had dragged me to an opera. I stabbed him in the calf for that and he had an actual excuse to use his cane other than bopping students with it, and looking regal.

He at least had the curriculum vitae for the latter.

Without bothering to check my surroundings too carefully, I walked out of the office and back into the hallway. If anyone saw the door open, then they'd chalk it up to a hallucination and continue on with their boring 9-17 lifestyles.

It was time to make my way back down the endlessly spiralling staircase to the ground floor. It was considerably faster this time and blessedly less strenuous. I would have preferred to just skydive from the roof, but the doors to it usually held alarms and I was already pushing it with my time in the building.

It'd have to come back some other day and see how long I could live in this building before someone noticed. They probably had their own shower and food amenities and I wasn't just a thief in name, but would they have a laundry service?

Something to keep my thoughts occupied on my flight back to Vale.

Which I had not planned because I didn't expect the security in this building to be this lax. I was expecting to walk into the lobby and trigger some alarms to test their response but I got nothing; just a bored guard, keycard readers, and a criminally invested CSO.

With the way this was going, I was going to have to charge Summer Lien for my services. I at least deserved compensation for having to take a ship or plane all the way back if I couldn't pilfer one.

Stealing codes to private aircraft was a hassle since all the luxurious ones ran off personal scrolls rather than keys. It was a vast benefit to securing craft from thieves, and I hadn't yet paid anyone to write an algorithm to break those encryptions.

I might be able to persuade Kara to write one for me, just after she finished trying to take my head off.

Now I was left with the options of stowing away again or buying a ticket to Vale, whether by boat or plane.

What would a girl, whose bank accounts rivaled the Schnees, do in such a situation? I was not going to stowaway again, not when there was a first class suite on an airliner with my name on it.

Well, not Neo On on it, so Kara Rose was travelling back to Vale without actually having to bypass customs to get into Atlas in the first place. That would be a fun situation to watch, but I'd be long gone by then.

In a matter of minutes, Luksus Airways was a couple thousand Lien richer, and I also had a taxi on the way to take me to the airport.

Slipping back into Kara was like slipping back into a set of worn pajamas. The few hours I had spent in her form, and the years of practice with my Semblance, left it a seamless process. Feline ears twitched, reacting predictively to a breeze as if they were real and shoulders rolled in mirrored, linked perfection.

The taxi showed up when and where I asked to be picked up and I entered without any greeting. These drivers were expected to shut up and drive, and were handsomely rewarded for their discretion, not caring if you were Faunus or not.

Lien was the language spoken in Atlas so Jacques Schnee made sure Faunus could never amass enough of it, burying them in lawsuits and extortion schemes, notably harming their families. The rich stayed rich while the less fortunate dreamed.

Several forms of political ideologies had been tried on this planet, back before the Atomic Crises, from anarchism to absolutism and every ideology in between. The few which tried to distribute wealth, such as socialism, worked spectacularly, but when most of civilization was wiped out, so too was history.

My favorite try was the fascist Third Reich back when years were counted from the birth of some religious character. Confused the hell out for me because I had a completely different way of counting years when I first learned about it. Stabbed that legionnaire for insulting me.

I got to shoot that Hitler chap. Knew how to run a country and motivate it, but for all the wrong reasons. Did the same in the People's Republic of China to Mao Zedong before Ozpin kindly reminded me why I was there in the first place

I got him a new cane as an apology gift; the same one he keeps around today. It may have been modified it from its original appearance, but at its core, it was still the same one. He knows how to make a girl feel special.

At the airport, I gave the driver a hefty tip for keeping his silence during the drive. Once I stepped out onto the promenade, I was met with various stares and glares of disgust from the citizens of Atlas.

Second class citizenship didn't protect Faunus at all from bigots, idiots, and other like minded ilk.

Wait until they learn they all shared a common ancestor, or they wouldn't be able to reproduce with one another.

My dress wasn't exactly what people flying first class wore, consisting of a black tee and jeans. I didn't wear formal clothes, not even as disguise. They were stuffy and unbearable.

Priority checking was quick and effortless, and with Kara being registered so high up, checking in my parasol only got a raised eyebrow.

No matter how much the Hunter Academies were respected, private airlines would not allow hunters to carry weapons with them and had to have them checked. Ammunition needed to be stored securely in waterproof containers and explosives weren't allowed at all.

They may have taken my parasol but they wouldn't find the carbon fiber knives hidden in my boots or the ones disguised as belt buckles, or the capsule of ricin hidden in a fake tooth, or the high tensile diamond wire masquerading as a bracelet.

The parasol was just my favourite. It didn't mean I was defenceless.

Nothing set off an alarm as I passed through the security checkpoint because everything had an innocuous purpose. The bracelet got me an investigative look and I needed to pull out my scroll to explain it wasn't a weapon of murder used to strangle people or break their thyroid cartilage. Diamonds weren't cheap after all.

Any other day, the bracelet wouldn't even warrant a glance, but when a military base gets attacked, absolutely everything had to pass muster.

I snickered inwardly. Kara was definitely going on a watchlist after this.

Timing seemed to be my specialty as I arrived at the gate only a dozen minutes shy of boarding time, and as a first class passenger, was boarded with haste. No one turned away money, even if they continued to stare at my ears in distrust.

The older generation needed to learn all humans had equal rights while the younger would be taught. The mistakes of histories past needed to be learned, not matter how the continents were arranged, which countries existed, or which subspecies of _homo sapien_ waddled about.

Or they could continue making those mistakes and prove my point about the unintelligent doomed to the endless cycle of repetition. Enough of those repetitions and someone always hit the reset button.

A glass of champagne waited for me on the folding tray, congratulating me for a job well done. While the pay was terrible, meaning not at all, it offered a much more tempting incentive in the form of stress relief for psychopaths. Had much fewer opportunities for those after the population of the planet plummeted, but it hovered around three to four billion now. Enough of an excuse.

I fell asleep before the airplane finished taxiing to the runway, clipping my safety belt together to avoid the ire of any flight attendant checking in. I usually couldn't fall asleep, just in case something happened in flight, but the freefall or mass hysteria would suffice as an alarm clock.

* * *

 _Vale International - 2300 VMT_

I had to choke a bitch when the flight attendant woke me up for dinner, but after explaining it was impolite to wake a Huntress in such a manner, it was her who apologised, and as appetizing as artisan garganelli pasta tossed in a creamy wild mushroom sauce finished with slow roasted tomatoes and grated pecorino cheese sounded, I wanted to continue sleeping.

It was sinfully delicious and quenched my grumpy demeanor.

Until I realized I was in Vale without anything to do. How Ozpin dealt with the dredges of boredom escaped me. Summer didn't have her mask completely created yet so had no answer to boredom, substituting it for work. My hobbies included killing and ice cream, and couldn't do the first without adding to Summer's workload.

Ozpin would punish me and send me somewhere isolated. Last time he locked away my Aura and dropped me smack in the middle of Cassus. Schlepping my way to the coast took weeks and when I got to Beacon eventually, I brained him and stole his cocoa.

The resulting chase around Beacon nearly gave Glynda a coronary as her Headmaster went seemingly senile, chasing an invisible target around in circles, madly mumbling about midget mercenaries and the malicious appropriation of packets of chocolate.

That was almost an alliteration.

So I had two options. Go back to Beacon and find a member of Team SKBN to play or go and check in with the White Fang. After Roman's death, they had no reliable way to reach me other than scroll and I had no messages.

There was a tug on my Aura core before I could properly retrieve my parasol from the baggage carousel, as if the caller knew I was back on land and not in the air. Funny how it worked like that.

Salem needed my consent to drag me into her hell dimension.

I had been in hell once and it wasn't as bad as people thought it was. Hot as hell, pun for the win, and people were being tortured left, right, and center, but I got bored quickly.

Probably because I wasn't actually meant to be there in the first place. I was on my way to the kitchen for a snack and I got lost.

I am not a clever woman.

I let Salem know she had my consent and my vision was obscured in a miasma of pulsing red and purple, and I appeared already sitting in my assigned seat around the beautifully carved table I would have stolen any other day, if I could carry it.

Looks of ire were shot my way as I was the last to arrive, having been otherwise occupied sleeping in a comfortable recliner and having food and drink served to me. To my left sat Cinder, with Emerald and Mercury hovered behind her, and to my right sat Tyrian, looking unhinged as ever.

"Neo, good of you to join us." Salen nearly purred at me. That wasn't a good sign, especially when less than a week had gone by since Beacon resisted her attack. If I was the last one to be here then they could have discussed whatever they wanted without my knowledge. I'd be sending duplicates in my stead from now on.

Just needed to work out how to communicate back and forth. I could message Emerald my answers but I'd need some way to receive communication.

Wait.

Test time.

 _I was busy snooping around Beacon. Had my scroll silenced._ The message was sent to Emerald instead of me just showing my scroll, but she didn't react, so either her scroll was also silenced, or she didn't get anything. I let Emerald read off my scroll.

This meant I couldn't rely on any support in case I was caught and this place could also not be sieged, as it either wasn't in the range of any CCTS system, a low chance of that, or it wasn't even on the plane the system existed on, and by the weird Grimm floating about freely, I'd bet on the latter.

I'd have to visit Vacuo soon and try my luck at their casinos.

Now that one of my ideas was out, it thusly ruled out my other idea of slipping a microphone under the table, as with the lack of the international communications network, it wouldn't work. It was down to a game of chance where I'd have to stake my life to whether Salem's informants could figure out my deception.

Hadn't had to stake my life in awhile, but when dealing with an inescapable pocket dimension controlled by an insidious goddess-level being, I had no other option.

Vacuo was definitely going to see me soon.

"And what do you have to report?"

I tabbed to the report I had compiled sometime during my flight and slid my scroll over. She paused, eyes imperceptibly widening at the high definition photo of Summer, taken at such an angle to only show her functioning silver eye. Her scythe was conspicuously missing.

"Who is this?" I mimicked the motion to scroll down, where all the information I had compiled on Summer was waiting to be read. Which, in retrospect, wasn't much more than her name and her physical traits. "She's supposed to be dead."

She got a look which universally meant: no shit. I was responsible for her capture, but after I handed her over, she wasn't my responsibility. The only reason I knew about her death was because Salem had told me after I asked, but not the circumstances of it.

"And you're sure this isn't her child, Ruby Rose?" I gestured Summer was taller than Ruby and had witnessed they were two separate entities. The second part was conveyed through signs until Salem prodded me to repeat the message for the benefit of everyone else.

 _She's the one rumoured to have taken down the dragon and then spearheaded the defense of Beacon._ This one I typed out to keep Salem from asking me nicely again. Nice just didn't work with her. _And Ozpin is alive._

Cinder shrank under Salem's glare. If Ozpin really did die from Cinder's attack then he didn't deserve to be the Headmaster. Cinder was nothing more than an upjumped child who stole the powers of a Maiden and then decided to test them, even if she had a misconstrued reason for taking them.

While neither him nor her had lost, Ozpin had to deal with the imminent collapse of the Vault and his school if he did go all out. Cinder had walked away only because Ozpin cared, not because he was less powerful. He could kick _my_ ass with three of his limbs cut off and while blinded.

Cinder he could defeat while submerged in a tub of lard and bereft of all his senses. He'd perform the polka and then cane her, all with a smile on his face. Wasn't that a scary thought?

And never threaten his cocoa.

Ever.

He gave me nightmares, and I thought I had seen every type of nightmare in the known and unknown universes.

I was wrong.

Salem was still smiling, which either meant she didn't care Summer Rose was somehow alive, would plan to capture her and brainwash her (again?), or her resurrection didn't matter to her overall scheme.

As much as Salem was a threat to Beacon, she wasn't the primary target for Summer. She understood that while Salem controlled every single Grimm and was a larger, single threat than the White Fang, the latter posed a greater, cumulative threat against them. The Huntsmen were specifically trained to face Grimm, not other humans.

With how Salem's goals were aligned, along with Cinder's, they were really only after the Maidens and the Relics, which admittedly, didn't require the destruction of the Academies. The Grimm and the White Fang were means to an end, and if Summer could cull one of them, then they'd have to reanalyze their plans.

The only caveat to Salem's plans was that to get to the Relics, they needed to get to the Maidens. Summer and Ozpin protected the Fall Maiden, even though the power was split between her and Cinder, and the other Maidens were scattered somewhere around Remnant to the point where neither Ozipin nor I knew where they were.

Why the power had to transfer to another from the dying's thoughts was a system I didn't understand completely, but I wasn't the one who created it in the first place.

"Find out who she is Neo. I refuse to believe this is the woman I killed more than a decade ago. I want her real name and I want her abilities." The twitch on the side of her neck told me her outward calm demeanor masked a roiling tempest. "I need you to keep tabs on Pyrrha Nikos as well."

 _Am I getting paid this time?_ Emerald read off my scroll, slowly backing away as if I was marked for death.

"Standard rate?" I nodded. The trip from Atlas would pay itself off soon with the retainer Salem paid me. Where she got the money, I don't know, but I tested for forgeries and all the bills always come out clean. "You'll get your money in a few days." I nodded again, taking in my dismissal.

 _You can send me back now._ I managed to sign out before I was again engulfed in the portal and deposited back at the airport promenade. Could have asked to be placed at Beacon, where she wanted me to go, but she already wasn't questioning why I was at the airport.

Reminder: test whether or not Salem knows where I'm coming from and whether she can teleport me places. She always drops me off from where I came from, telling me she had no layout of where I was and had a psychic link to me and not my position, much like how a sensor could detect the direction someone is at, but not the precise location.

Like sticking your hand into a bag full of various shapes and pulling out the one you wanted, but doing it with people through how their Aura felt. Which didn't bode well if Summer and I shared similar Aural patterns and Salem went fishing around for me.

Needed to buy popcorn for such an occasion.

I didn't like having a link to her, but it was better than her tracking where I was. She'd eventually notice I spent an inordinate amount of time in Beacon and I didn't really have an answer to why I stayed around at least two sensors who could completely strip away my ability to hide.

Summer and Ozpin weren't sensors in the traditional sense, but they always knew where I was, regardless of any disguises. He liked to humor me by playing along and Summer couldn't care less. She actually couldn't care less which was the funny bit.

But seriously, couldn't she have dropped me off somewhere at least close to Beacon?

And why the _fuck_ was it suddenly midday?

* * *

Continuing with my masquerade of Kara, I secured a bullhead and darted off towards Beacon, ignoring the gaping looks of stunned awe. It wasn't everyday the small Hunter attachment to the airport was visited by a member of the High Commander's team.

Go away fan girls. There are another six S-classes in Vale. Go and accost them for autographs. Summer would send them scattering but Ozpin would entertain their notions.

The balance of power was completely skewed with Team SKBN taking roost at Beacon. The city-states usually held, at most, three S-class Hunters at any time, given the turnover/death rate. Ozpin and Branwen were the two in Vale, and I was the unofficial third, but Beacon now had seven with the other Branwen rapidly closing the gap to his sister.

Atlas' Hearth Academy had two, Ironwood and Ironwood, and Vacuo's Haven and Mistral's Sanctum also had two to my last count, so at 7-2-2-2, Beacon could manhandle anyone it wanted.

I also wasn't counting that officially, other than Branwen and Ozpin, Beacon didn't have more than two S-ranks in its service. With Summer taking the title of High Commander, that number rose to three, while the rest of her team was classed as A-ranks.

Also, I wasn't counting that neither Ozpin, Nova, or Bianca were classed as regular S-ranks, and were unofficially classed as SS-ranks, and each higher rank was exponentially harder to achieve than the one below it. I wasn't sure where I fit on the scale, but I knew I sat in the S-tiered class.

Of course, this was expecting the worst case scenario of another Great War, which to me was either World War Seven, Eight, or Nine. Too many years between them all to keep track.

Fighting against conventional weaponry, an S-ranked Hunter was worth anywhere between a few hundred to more than a million infantry units, depending on their specialization. Kara, who lacked any large area of effect attacks, was on the lower end, while Summer, who could cut down thousands before they blinked, was at the top.

I was above Beacon airspace within a few dozen minutes, and the traffic controller was dead confused. Probably because Kara wasn't registered as having left. He knew better than to deny her access to her home, but he was sure to report it anyway.

At some point, someone, somewhere was going to notice two instances of Kara Rose kept popping up everywhere where they couldn't be.

Hangar Two was the designated LZ for the High Command team, as Hangar One was Ozpin's. He almost never used it, but rumour had it, it was stuffed with entire shipping containers of cocoa; his panic room.

The roof opened upon detecting a member of Team SKBN and I landed off to the side of two bullheads in the process of being torn apart. A familiar blonde stood in the midst of the chaos wielding an acetylene torch. Tangles of wire, circuit boards, displays and other vaguely aircraft related parts lay scattered about her.

"Hi Neo." I wasn't fooling her with this disguise. I waved at her and she went back to building the skeleton of her ship while I danced around the scattered workstations.

A small grey blur detached itself from a mass of cables and ran after me, nipping at my heels as I approached the doors.

It was a dog.

A fuzzy, black-headed tricolor corgi with grey eyes stared up at me in confusion. I grabbed him by the scruff and held him to my real eyes. He licked the fake image of me, causing it to destabilise.

Smart dog.

He just continued to pant at my face and gave me another lick. I looked over to Nova, but she was lost in a hail of sparks and smoke, so I was stuck with him now.

Reapplying my illusion, I left the hangar heading to the dorms with the dog trotting behind me. He was quiet and investigative, sniffing and ducking between my feet as he tried to understand who I was and why I was masquerading as Kara, someone he must've known if he was camping out with Nova in her hangar.

He was a nimble little thing as he dodged the playful stabs of my disillusioned parasol; rolling, hopping, and bending in every direction to avoid the pokes before chasing after me, when he noticed I darted forward, to continue the game.

This continued all the way up to the dorms and up the stairs, where I managed to trip him by accident and watch him fall, only for him to snort, get back up, and continue after me. What did Nova do to this dog? He literally just fell down a full flight of stairs, head over heels, and just barks at me.

Team SKBN's door opened up to my scroll and I got the end of an artillery barrel as I crossed the threshold. I pushed it aside with a finger, smiling at the deadly force in my face. Out of the room's four inhabitants, Kara was the only one not leveling her weapon at me; Nova had her gauntlets extended and Bianca had a glyph at my feet.

The poor dog looked even more confused at the presence of two Karas, but instantly jumped onto Kara's bed when she patted the spot next to her. I dropped the disguise.

"You're back early." Summer stowed her weapon and returned to her ever full inbox.

 _I went exploring._ I walked over to their shared dresser and started rummaging around, searching for clothing which could fit my size. Sadly, Bianca didn't have anything in my favourite colours, but Summer's clothing was too large for me. The clothes' owner shook or nodded as I pulled out shirts and slacks alike.

"Where'd you go?" I smirked maliciously at Nova's question. So many places yet to visit when everytime you looked away, something new popped up. No one batted an eye as I started to change in front of them.

Sometimes it was hard dealing with psychopaths, no matter the level of affliction. Nothing phased them anymore.

Challenge accepted.

 _Atlas._ Kara's fingers twitched. She knew I had no reason to be in Atlas before my assignment. I took the drive out of my sleeve and handed it over. _Disconnect from the network._

Kara disabled the adapter and slammed the drive in, pursuing its contents. Her nose twitched in such an adorable fashion as the hundreds of folders I pilfered streamed across her screen, from the SDC assets to the incriminating ones.

Kara didn't say anything, but she closed the laptop, swung herself to the side of the bed, and cracked her neck. My only warning was the dull flash reflecting off her blade's sheath. Performing a backwards one handed cartwheel, I ended up crouched on the other bed.

Let the games begin.

Re-equipping Kara, I dashed out the window and glanced behind me, only to witness a demonic shade of black lurking in the window I evacuated through.

Challenge completed.

My position was obliterated in a storm of bullets, revealing it to be a copy as I flipped sideways and bowed upon regaining my footing.

A couple of shadows gave chase to us, presumably to mitigate any damage; my favourite Ironwood and the dog watched our dance.

Kara didn't appear to be moving; standing there, smiling condescending.

It was only my years of experience that saved my new top from destruction as Kara blindsided me, her sword shearing a few precious strands from my hair. An illusion took my place as Kara pressed her attack while I returned the favour.

For every fake she took out, I returned an attack, grinning as the wide variety of Dusts kept me off my footing. The fire Dust singed my hair, the earth and ice dust caused me to lose precious milliseconds to wrench my rapier free, the lightning Dust sent shocks at me, the water Dust doused me, and so on it went.

Where she stored this many types of Dusts was a mystery as her leg pouches didn't look to have much space, and unless there were crystals or vials embedded in her sheath, a foolish decision with how aggressively she was using it, then she was magically spawning them out of thin air.

Dumping most of my considerable Aura reserves into my illusion, I stopped and parried her Gambol Shroud with mine, the sheer density of my Semblance stopping hers in its tracks, with only a minuscule shimmer rippling along my blade's length.

We stood at a stalemate, grin meeting grin, and strength meeting strength.

Zwei tackled little Red in the background, zeroing in on his Master rather than paying attention to our fight.

"Hi mom." Kara and I momentarily peaced out and took the time to wave back.

"How're you doing that?" Blake alternated stares between the two Karas, unable to ascertain which one was the real one. Both looked exactly the same, except the right one wore a darker scheme, and the left one wore a lighter scheme.

Kara and I shared a look before attacking each other again, disappearing in showers of multicoloured Dust, her fire Dust masking my tiny mirror fragments, hiding my Semblance from prying eyes who might recognize it.

Little Red and the Belladonna had seen my Semblance being used after all when Roman and I had stolen one of Atlas' Paladins and showcased it to the White Fang. I had been against the showboating, but Roman was convinced this would bolster the Fang's moral and get him paid more for his services.

Twit.

A lovable twit, but still a twit.

If it wasn't for his vast connections to the criminal underworld, his flair, or his ability with his cane, then he really wasn't much of a threat; just a lesser version of Beacon's own spymaster.

Other than the teasing stabs or close shaves, Kara wasn't putting much effort into harming me, abstaining from using her bullets.

That wouldn't do.

I parried her next strike, pushing her off balance before wrapping around her, throwing my weight onto her shoulder and balancing upside-down on them. Gravity pulled me down and I used the leverage to send her flying backwards into the following pair of Belladonna and Red. She tried twisting around the duo, but the lack of any controls surfaces caused her to bowl them both over.

The clone fell apart to water.

"How is she doing that? My clones aren't able to hit back!" Belladonna picked herself up, watching me analyze my surroundings. The dog and Red had swirls in their eyes.

I would eventually learn their names.

There were two possibilities to her question. Either Kara had long surpassed her own ability with his clones, getting to the point of autonomous control, or one of us wasn't a clone and was an imposter Kara was trying to kill.

The proper procedure in this case was to strike fast but non-lethally, ask questions later, and then kill if the questions weren't answered correctly.

Non-lethally? Get out of my head Ozpin.

Damn. Now I was calling him by his new ridiculous name.

So rather than fending off three Hunters, and a dog I couldn't bring myself to harm, I was dealing with one incensed one. Granted, we were around equal, especially with the roundhouse kick she delivered to my head, sending me forward to create a furrow in the ground outside Beacon.

Weren't we just next to the administration building?

A large shimmering dome of glyphs trapped the five of us against the beginning of the Redwood Forests. Bianca sat at the top of it in a meditative trance, no doubt ready to interfere if anything went wrong.

If Bianca and Kara were as smart as I gave them credit for, then this dome was here for a reason. It wasn't to keep Kara and I in, it was the keep the other three in.

I had stopped specifically in front of Red for a reason, and while I didn't mean to drag the Belladonna into it, and the dog just seemed to follow whoever he wanted to follow, she'd have been told eventually.

Summer said not to tell her about my part in her mother's death, but she said nothing about screwing with her. Her specific wording was to not tell her _yet_ , but by that point I'd be fending off Qrow before her.

A wave of pink, brown, and white mirror shards traveled around the interior of the dome, trapping out the blinding white light and replacing it with those of ice cream nature. Bianca would still be able to see in from the outside, but only from her point of view.

"I didn't know Bianca could this." Red poked the illusory sky and a piece of it shattered into shards before being instantly replaced. Stop touching it and get the picture of what I was trying to show you.

"Do you remember when we were in the Districts and we discovered the Fang had stolen an Atlesian Paladin?" Red nodded along. "And when we tried to get it back, we had to fight Torchwick and his companion?" Another nod. "And they were able to escape because she tricked us?"

Blake slapped the fake sky, causing a larger hole to appear with a loud crack as the pieces shattered before I replaced them again. I had their attention now.

A deafening crack from across the enclosed field tore their attention to us again. The air in front of Kara shimmered and rippled before the pieces dropped and revealed me as Neo, and not as Kara.

Kara didn't react to this, and disappeared in a burst of air, dropping out of the battlefield. She made her way behind me, and I blanketed her behind another illusion. I didn't know how long her invisible state could last, but the only reason I could keep track of her was because I bothered remembering I was a sensor.

But where was the fun in using it?

Which left me facing off against Red and Belladonna, while they were left without the help of their superior against me. They knew almost nothing about my skills, other than the fact I could control what they saw and they could break my illusions easily.

They treated me as their enemy, meaning they'd rather attempt to attack me first rather than wonder why Bianca was keeping them trapped in here with me. Maybe they assumed everything before the dome was an illusion and they were trapped in here on my merit.

They didn't know how much a threat I posed to them as I'd only ever fought against the blonde on the train and didn't fight against them in the Districts and only acted as an escape for Roman.

If they knew I could defeat them without lifting my pinkie finger, then their only option was to escape, which they believe they couldn't. So they'd attempt to test me, but when they learned they couldn't beat me, they'd try to escape.

Logically sound, but they'd be dead if I was fighting for real, or tired enough to not escape when I was through with them.

Moral of the story: don't engage an enemy who could trap you without any effort on her part. I would lose against Bianca if she managed to trip the real me, and the only person I could think of who could get out would be Taurus, as his Semblance specifically dealt with cutting through Aura.

Perhaps they wouldn't engage me as they stood at the other end and weren't moving. They both had their hands on their weapon, but their dog looked to be nonplussed about being trapped. Much like with Summer, he had no intentions to read off of me.

Red fired a shot straight up at the dome, and nothing but a crack appeared before being sealed back up. If her bullet couldn't get through it, then neither were they, and they knew they were truly stuck here.

The dog started to take a nap.

We all sweatdrop. I hadn't threatened him in our first meeting, and had taken the time to play with him so he knew I had no reason to hurt him now.

Two Beowolves materialised next to me at my command and charged forward, snapping the two to action. They couldn't interact with their environment, noted with how their paws didn't displace the grass, but they served as distractions.

The Belladonna remained still and shattered the Beowolf as it leapt at her while Red met her opponent halfway. Through the remains of Red's Beowolf, I appeared and grabbed her cloak, flinging her at the ceiling.

She was terrifyingly light.

Belladonna, seeing her partner slowly peeling off the dome interior, took the chance to run at me. Much like the fight I had with blondie, I didn't need to use my Semblance. Her strikes were wild and predictable and I only needed to slightly shift my body to avoid each one.

A scythe threw a wrench to my style as it approached my back from high while a sword attacked me from below. They were improperly timed as the scythe approached faster. I twisted and bent backwards, allowing the massive scythe to pass over me while I committed to a bridge, planting my hands after the sword passed my top.

While upside down in my bridge, I cheekily smiled as Red passed above me, her scythe trailing behind her. Flipping into a handstand, I propelled after her, stomping down on her cloak and halting her progress forward, clotheslining her with her own accessory.

Belladonna was on me, jumping in to the rescue, but she was much too slow to effectively deal with me. Any slash was sidestepped and any stab was swayed around, and she was starting to lose her cool as her attacks become more erratic.

Catching one of her slashes against my parasol, I let it twist it around, ending with my own rapier pointed at me. Hooking the crook handle around her foot, I pulled her leg forward and slammed the ferrule into her kidneys, driving the air from her lungs. She only had a short chance to contemplate her lack of air before she impacted the ground.

Rough and almost no teamwork between the two, other than the sad attempt to lock me between their two weapons. If they learned to time it better, it'd fell a lesser enemy, but anyone who needed to have the move used on them always had a counter or escape move.

Summer had her work cut out for her, but in little more than four years, she had transformed from whatever _this_ was to an opponent I couldn't spar against without using my Semblance, and even then, couldn't see her move.

I would call hacks, but I had a pretty sweet Semblance too. Less 'let's obliterate the enemy army before they can blink' and more 'let's fuck with the enemy army and have them obliterate themselves'.

The many World Wars of this planet were a gift, allowing me to infiltrate and deceive every which way. The Second World War between the Axis and the Allies was my favourite by a long shot, especially as it was a war against the systematic targeting of a people based on such a silly thing as religion or race.

If you're going to kill people, do so equally.

Everyone deserves the embrace of death, and war solved the usual problems of ideological difference while culling the population of the young and stupid who are tricked by the old and bitter into killing each other.

The haunting words of my mentor echoed in my mind, spoken in a different and forgotten tongue used in the world of my birth.

All men must die, and all must serve.

Still wasn't sure what the second part meant, but philosophy was Evander's thing, not mine.

Ha!

Got the name right!

The dome outside my illusory sky dissolved and Bianca crashed down next to me, observing my handiwork.

"That was sad." I nodded in complete agreement. Kara appeared next to me without a sound, staring down at her younger version as the latter slowly made her way back to standing, fingering her weapon's grip.

She was grinning.

Ruby was above the three of us, ready to slash through and obliterate the illusions of Bianca and Kara.

Except they weren't illusions, so a glyph redirected the scythe into the ground, keeping it locked there with another one.

I was never fighting against Bianca. Against Nova maybe, but against the woman who could immobilize me, trap me, or control my actions with a thought, no thank you.

Ruby stared at the glyphs keeping her weapon imprisoned and tried pulling it free, but to no avail. A few more tugs revealed she was getting nowhere and she huffed in annoyance.

Which left Kara to disarm Blake as she tried to skewer me, twisting the offending arm behind her back and planting her own knee on her back, manhandling her into the dirt.

They were learning the 'attack first, then ask questions later' principle.

"Are you two quite finished yet, or would you like a repeat of this morning's practice?" Fear creeped into their eyes as they immediately stopped struggling in their actions. Bianca was a sadist, good to know.

The things we could get up to together, and throw in her wife…

"Ruby, Blake, this is Neo." You forgot my titles Bianca. Queen of Masks, Mistress of Malice, Docent of Deception, Pandit of Pain, and Buddha of Bitches. Hear me fucking roar.

"We met, briefly. She tried to kill us." Blake managed out while arranging her internal organs back into place. Ruby massaged her own throat, feeling for any damage.

"If she wanted you dead, you'd be dead." Roar. :3 "She's an Aura user on par with Kara and Summer."

"So why is she here?" Ruby asked. To desensitize you to the fact I killed your mother when Salem eventually releases my past records to the public upon discovering my treachery. Why else?

"She wanted a rematch against you." I beamed up at Bianca.

 _You were terrible._ I typed out. _I got overconfident on that airship and you managed to send me flying off due to your quick thinking. Very good, but it won't work again and you can't rely on your luck to save you every time."_

 _You rely too much on your ability to outpace your opponent. You have absolutely no fighting style, but you wield the scythe with skill. There are Grimm out there who can strike faster than you can. Your cloak is also a hindrance to both your speed and your safety._

Blake got her report next.

 _You on the other hand let your rage overtake your rational thinking. You abandoned your fighting style to strike at me like an untrained brawler. While this works for your blonde teammate, it won't work for you. You also never used your Semblance offensively because I never struck back._

"Thank you for your report Neo." Don't ruffle my head. Don't ruffle my hair.

She ruffled my hair.

Nothing was worse than being the shortest person around. Even Red was taller than me and she was tiny compared to Summer.

Blake and Red stared owlishly at our interactions.

"Aren't you supposed to be our enemy?" Red tilted her head. "We fought on the airship, you invaded our home."

 _True, but when Roman got killed, I was out of a job, so when Summer offered me a new one, I came here._

"She's somewhat of a mercenary. She works for pay, but not always Lien." Pay me in blood, or sex. "It's a little more complicated than that, but she'll be working with my team for the near future."

Forever and ever as long as I got to fight one of them regularly, or until I got bored. The rest of the world was dull.

"And you trust her?" The dog came to my rescue, placing himself at my feet and begging for belly scratches. Too cute.

"Zwei seems to trust her." FINALLY! A name. "Good enough for me. I'm Ruby."

I shook her outstretched hand. Whether Team SKBN trusted me was a different story.

This girl, who bested me atop that airship, was not Summer. She still had a childish innocence around her, tinged with curiosity and trust. And in less than four years, it was replaced with nothing, no one, a nightmare.

Evander and the rest of Team SKBN had their work cut out for them.

I smiled back. Corrupting her was going to be fun.

Blake still looked at me with distrust, but if Red could accept me, then so could she.

"The only problem with her is she's a known criminal with a vast report throughout the Kingdoms, but has only a few outstanding crimes against our Hunters." Vale doesn't have enough paper to print out my crimes against them.

There were still the charges of the murder of Atlesian personnel on the airship Roman and I commandeered, and the theft of several Atlesian Paladins, along with stealing the source code for their Knights.

Against Beacon, there was the attempted murder of blondie, and while she assumed I could have killed her, only Raven Branwen could confirm it. All she knew was that I completely owned her ass. Aiding and abetting in the murder of a Huntress still only counted as one charge, so the murder of the original Summer Rose was my only major crime against them.

They couldn't count the planned invasion of Beacon as I was neither on the planning committee nor had a say against it. The only people who knew of my part in it were either dead, in front of me, or with Salem. I was supposed to be in charge of Roman's protection, which made me complicit to controlling the Knights, but anything other than that, I wasn't privy to.

I had warned Evander either way.

In the long run, I was still more grey than the majority of criminals. On the top of Ozpin's rules were the big two, but I had no country to betray nor would I ever rape another. Below those two was the 'don't kill' rule, but even he struggled to follow it.

At least, that was how I justified it.

"And how do you plan justifying her employment if she's a publically known criminal?" Blake asked.

"We, technically, don't have to. The position of High Commander is a legal dictatorship over the Hunters, which lets Summer grant her amnesty for her past crimes against us if she agrees to work with us."

"What if Vale finds out?" Thanks for worrying Red, but the Council was a group of humans who believed themselves to be the true power in Vale. They were the bureaucratic and political elite in charge of keeping the country stable. "Won't mom be in trouble?"

"The Council has little to no say about who is hired as a Hunter, but for the meanwhile, no one other than Ozpin, Qrow, my team, and now you two know about her. She really wanted her rematch."

"Can we tell Yang and Weiss?" Needed a rematch with blondie too, and finally knew all the names. People should just wear name tags and skip the introduction step entirely. If it wasn't for Raven and my agreement to protect the train, she'd be dead, so maybe it all worked out in the end.

She too relied too heavily on her Semblance to win fights. Abilities needed to be cultivated before Aura was brought in to enhance them. Much like against Blake, I never needed to strike back, negating a core component in blondie's fighting style.

"Yang still needs a rematch from their fight on the train, so don't tell them yet. After the liberation of the camps, then we'll introduce them to her. And this goes without saying, but if you tell anyone outside the people who already know, then I'll court martial you and drop you from the program, which includes not telling Team JNPR."

"Kay." Red agreed way too quickly to those terms. Maybe she didn't need much more corruption. "Bye Neo. See you around."

Red read from a familiar orange book while she dragged Blake away. _Definitely_ didn't need any more corruption. They had much to think about, especially with my scathing reviews of their poor performances, but individual performance could always be overlooked for partner or team performance, which they needed to work on as well.

"You know how to push your luck, don't you?" I shrugged, spawned a copy of Roman's hat on my head and blew a raspberry back.

 _Red doesn't seem to know how to hold a grudge; she's too cute. Is she dating anyone?_

"Don't know, but I'm pretty sure she's interesting in Weiss. And you will not ruin that or you'll never spar against Summer again." The threat shut me up instantly. They were Summer's handlers, and if they said she wasn't sparring with me, she wasn't.

 _Blake's going to tell Yang, even with the threat of a court martial, but Ruby should be able to keep her mouth shut until the liberation._ Kara signed and Bianca ran after them, concurring with her statement.

 _I'm still angry at you._ Another cheeky smile and Kara redrew her blade, coming after me in a explosion of fire Dust.

* * *

AN: Thanks to Luciano Pavarotti for inspiring me to finish this chapter. May his operatic tenor live on forever in our hearts.

Enjoy the earlier that usual chapter. Did change the title of the chapter to a more apt one.

In the works: Chapter Twelve - Blind


	12. Twelve - Blind

Chapter Twelve

* * *

 **Blind**

* * *

 _Beacon - Team SKBN - 1600_

"What do you mean you're not going?" Bianca slowly repeated Summer's words back to her as she stared at the silver patch in her outstretched hand.

"I've been called to a meeting in the Capital Districts. Apparently, they don't like my appointment to the office of Commander and would like to ask me some questions." Summer monotone mirrored her boredom. "You'll be in charge of the Beacon fleet for tonight's operation."

"How long have you know about this meeting?" Bianca begrudgingly accepted the patch and affixed it her black clothing. Every member of SKBN wore all black, except for Summer, as she donned her usual everyday getup.

"This morning." Summer pulled out her scroll and showed the memo. "I have to show up to District One, and explain my appointment to the highest authority in the land."

"You are the highest authority." Nova replied, stretching out her muscles in preparation for the night op.

"They missed my memo then." Summer looked down at her own clothing. Kara's bow sat in its usual spot, tied around her neck as a choker. "How do I look?"

 _Like you're attending a movie, and not a meeting with the most powerful men and women in Vale._ Kara looked no different; black was always her colour.

"Shows my respect for them." Her scythe sat attached to her back, the menacing blake glinting in the bright afternoon sun. "You need to leave soon, our window is rapidly shrinking."

"Try not to kill them." Bianca kissed Summer on her cheek, instilling some measure of comfort to Summer. Dealing with bureaucrats was every Hunter's worst nightmare.

"I'll claim self-defense."

"With that scythe?" Summer stared back blankly, causing Nova to laugh and chase after her wife. They each had separate bullheads to pilot but they'd spend anytime together they could until their takeoff.

Kara hugged Summer tightly, pressed a kiss to her cheek and touched their foreheads together. Summer's silver eye twinkled and a smile passed over her face. She startled as Kara pinched her ass and disappeared without a trace, leaving her holding an air Dust clone.

"You should get going too." Neo stood from her chair and presented herself before Summer. She was entirely decked in black, from her hair to her eyes. "Leave a mess in my name, and tell them I'll meet them at Menagerie."

Neo nodded and shattered, leaving Summer alone in her room. She brushed a hand through her hair and settled back into her seat, restarting the process of filling out paperwork.

The skies above her screamed with the sounds of Airships and Bullheads as they soared north, avoiding the major populated areas of Vale. They'd circle around Vale and head north across the sea.

In less than eight hours, the siege would begin.

'Siege' did their operation no justice.

* * *

The imposing figure of the High Commander demanded respect as she entered the Council House of District One. Even with how late in the day it was, there were still tens of people milling about the marble foyer.

With her knee high combat boots, tight black jeans, blood red tee, and her softly pulsing scythe, she couldn't look more out of place. People shifted out of the way for her, not willing to tangle with the woman with the frighteningly empty eye.

It absorbed all the stares of confusion, wonder, and fear as its owner approached the security checkpoint to the Council's Hall. She strode directly to the head of security, and without a word, retrieved her scroll and presented her identification.

Everyone in the foyer held their breaths as they waited for the head to call for his men and drag the lunatic out, but to their shock, he saluted and allowed her to pass, not bothering to confiscate her weaponry.

As much as Hunters avoided the Capital Districts, he still knew the protocols regarding the Hunter Commander. Ozpin never attended meetings here so the presence of any Hunters in these Districts was an extremely rare occurrence. People weren't used to how openly Hunters carried themselves and their weapons.

Summer's path didn't lead her to the Council Chambers, instead meandering to the kitchens tucked away from any prying eyes. She was going to make the pompous assholes wait for her if they dared threaten her with 'dire' consequences.

No one stopped the confident woman who suddenly appeared in the kitchens and rummaged about for supplies to make tea. She spent a few minutes reading from her book, a few staff members recognizing it as indecent literature, but she had a massive scythe and they didn't.

She left just as quickly as she appeared, the majority of time spent waiting for her tea to steep properly before she took her cup and coaster with her, leaving the kitchen staff wondering who the hell she was.

Summer was already late as it went, so another ten minutes would drive the screws in further and teach them to not to assume they held any bit of command over her.

She kicked the doors to the Council Chambers open, causing the 24 council members to jump in their seats at the abrupt intrusion. They watched as she took a seat at the other end of the table, taking off her scythe and resting it besides her. Her choice of seat forced most of them to turn their chairs to face their guest.

She had won the war the moment she walked into the room.

"You've kept us waiting Commander." Summer didn't react to the Chairman's greetings, stirring her tea with her finger as she crossed her legs to settle into her chair.

She extended the growing tension and silence in the room by lewdly sucking her finger clean of tea.

"And you've shown me disrespect by summoning me here without at least two days notice." Summer let the twinkle in her eye disappear, leaving the Chairman staring into the abyss. "I didn't like the threatening tone of the summons."

"We apologize the meeting had to be called so abruptly, but we'd already put it off to give you time to restore Beacon." Summer doubted any of his words were sincere. "You've been summoned to answer questions pertaining your appointment as the new Commander of Beacon."

Summer nodded.

"Care to explain Commander?"

"Following the failed invasion of Beacon and the routing of the White Fang, Ozpin decided it was time to step down from his long tenure of Commander and instated me in his place."

She enjoyed these word games as she hadn't been asked a direct question, but rather an explanatory one.

"We were wondering more as to why you were chosen among other Hunters. Ozpin's appointment has been in the coming for a few years, but we weren't expecting his replacement to be so… young." The councilmen finished his sentence with unease.

"I didn't receive this position because of any sexual favours councilman, but regardless if this was the intention of your comment, the fact remains I am young." The mentioned councilman sputtered in his reply, but Summer bulldozed it down. "I was one of the most experienced Hunters under Ozpin's command, starting training in Signal from the age of three and then training as the next Commander from the age of fifteen."

"Were you voted in or was the position passed on?"

"It was given, but I've yet to receive complaints about my command in the two weeks I've held it, but if my Hunters are dissatisfied with my performance, they know the protocols to remove me."

The Council had absolutely no influence in the assignment of Beacon's next assignment. Just as the Hunters conceded control of all but their district, the Council conceded the succession of Commanders to them.

"What are your plans for the terrorist group known as the White Fang?" Another councilmember asked. "You've declined our help, but we've authorised emergency funds anyhow."

"Is it common for politicians to commit career suicide, or is this instance of the Council simply being vacuous?" The Chairman and his Council sputtered briefly as Summer continue with her remarks. "It sounds like I should be grateful you're funneling funds into one of the most important parts of Vale's defence, but I'm sure I just misconstrued your words."

Summer took a sip, waiting and watching as the councilors understood their blunder. If the people learned they withheld funds to the Hunters, who had successfully repelled the attack, then they would see themselves out of office come the next election term.

She had no such qualms as her position of the Hunters was guaranteed in perpetuity, and could only be rescinded by a motion of no confidence, retirement, or medical leave; the Council held no power to remove her.

"The Council and the people of Vale are ever so grateful the Hunters protect us against the Grimm, even if their battle now extends to the White Fang."

"Such a shame, but their existence can be attributed to this Council's continued refusal to grant the Faunus equal rights, a right which they should have received after the Great War. If they hadn't mounted their assault then we'd have no reason to retaliate."

They understood the unspoken caveat. The Hunters wouldn't have entered the conflict if they hadn't been attacked first, leaving Vale to deal with the terrorist threat by themselves, but as they had also used Grimm, it pulled Beacon in as a primary belligerent.

"The decision to not pass the Faunus Equal Rights addendum is a decision made by our constituents, not by this Council."

On paper, the Faunus did have equal rights since the Great War, but there were enough loopholes to the point where Faunus continued to live as second-class citizens.

"I understand completely." Summer replied, causing them to grimace in confusion at her suddenly agreeable nature. "After all, politicians are most concerned with retaining their positions as incumbents, and not the plight of the minorities living in Vale."

Summer, please stop. The author can't deal with this level of savagery, even with his jaded views on politics.

"A large majority of my Hunters are not satisfied with your refusal to amend the bill, including my wife who takes it as a personal insult to her heritage." She got a few sneers from the council members who wore their emotions on their sleeves. "But I rest assured any member of my forces won't get discriminated against, regardless of a few animal traits."

The trap snapped shut. Summer still had half of her tea remaining.

"No one would dare risk alienating our brave Hunters." Summer could tell the strain of having to respect the Faunus Hunters was about to tear the Chairman apart. "It'd be a great relief to the people if we could tell them the Hunters were working against the White Fang."

"With how decentralized their organization is, we have almost no information about their movements, and only have the name of their leader. While we have no action plan against them, we are working to gain information before we move against them."

"We could have the military intelligence casing for information." The Chairman offered.

"If the intelligence corp can keep their gathering discrete and out of view from the public, then please, go ahead and task them to help." Summer stared the Chairman down, before sweeping her gaze across the rest of them. "But the Fang are mine, and my Hunters' alone. They attacked an event we were assigned to guard and then attempted to destroy my Academy. If you formally declare a state of conflict, others will start seeing their cause as legitimate, when they did nothing more than surprise us at the force they gathered."

Summer paused, not entirely happy she would be allowing the Council to act anywhere close to this, but if she told them to not interfere, they would anyhow, so allowing them to help in this small measure kept them on a leash, especially if they'd be reporting to one of her Hunters.

"I doubt they can amass another attack anytime soon anywhere since they lost quite a number of personnel in their last one. Your intelligence members will report to my spymaster and they'll be able to coordinate information gathering from there." The Chairman and his peons nodded, thinking they scored a victory against the hostile Commander. There'd be a power struggle in the future when they each tried to remove the other, not legally of course.

Kara would have to be sent to deal with the less amicable councilmen, but after Qrow returned from wherever Winter had him locked up, she'd have less work to do with managing his networks and more time in the field.

The only problem with this route was the rest of the Council would start to suspect either the Hunters or the White Fang were behind their members going missing, and in order to paint the White Fang in a more negative light, they'd blame them.

The leash on the Council would have to be short and tight, but not enough to have them grovelling for freedom and attempting to bypass her restrictions. They possessed a military and Summer wouldn't risk plunging them into a civil war with them calling an active conflict against the Fang.

Once Menagerie took its place amongst the four Kingdoms, their new Faunus equality movement could begin to pull influence away from the White Fang and pressure the other city-states.

The other Kingdoms would start to see Menagerie as a threat which needed to be extinguished and would call it a White Fang plot to amass an army to threaten them. The new Academy, with support from the four Hunter factions would dissuade them quickly enough. They couldn't afford to run the Hunters from their countries. Against Grimm, even the most trained armies couldn't hold.

Politics was a hassle, but Kara was mute and a Faunus, and Nova didn't know what the word 'manipulations' meant. Bianca could've been sent in her stead, but it was Summer who held the position officially.

"Are we finished here or do you have anymore questions?" Her tea cup was nearly empty at this point.

"Not at this time Commander. Please do remember we're always ready to help the Hunters in any endeavor they seek to accomplish." Summer didn't buy his sincerity. "Whenever the Hunters feel the responsibilities of both fighting the White Fang and defending the people from Grimm are too much to bear, we'd be happy to lend our forces."

 _Whenever_ , not _if_.

Summer nearly broke the handle off of her cup.

She had lost the political bout.

The Council knew very well the Hunters numbered less than ten thousand and the Fang numbered in the possible millions, and while open warfare wasn't a tactic used anymore, they had the quantity to outsustain their quality. Her Hunters had to constantly split their duties from defending the people to chasing after the Fang, and the former always took priority.

She took her leave, kicking her scythe back up to its spot on her back. The scythe pulsed crimson ominously as she left the Chambers and she released a wave of Aura to keep the memory of her presence fresh in the the Council's minds.

She had another more important meeting to attend to before the night was done.

Her team would be furious with her when she made it back to Beacon to get their reports of the operation.

 _IF_ she made it back

* * *

 _Eastern Solitas (Undisclosed Coordinates) - Kara - 0000 AMT_

It was almost terrifying how similar the two timelines were to each other, but in this instance, she was more than grateful they weren't.

Rather than the SDC operating eight labour camps, they only operated six, saving 20,000 people from the dredges of servitude.

Which left a slight problem as Summer and Winter had split up the camps between their two forces, and Summer had four S-ranks ready to take a crack at them, not counting herself.

Neo had been attached to Nova as the latter didn't have a semblance of stealth in her body.

Kara set her craft down in a gully a couple of klicks from her camp. A quarter of Beacon's assigned bullheads set down behind her, their pilots knowing their roles for the night. The Airships remained on the coast, idling and waiting for the short FM radio signal to drop into the camps.

The jammers had been thrown away from their plans as each required a frequency to jam which needed someone to get into the camps in the first place. Didn't stop Summer from giving her team one each.

She left her craft and mentally prepared for the mission ahead. Around her, the rest of the bullheads slowly coordinated landing in the pitch black darkness. Any lights and signals had been ordered off, with the entire flight into Solitas flown in radio silence and NGV.

Choosing capable enough pilots in itself had left Vale with the bare minimum necessary Hunters on its borders. Summer could be deployed anywhere within two hours at most in case of an emergency, but she was busy pampering to the sycophants in District One.

Kara's Hunters barely noticed as she disappeared to the north, seamlessly blending with the shadows from the canopies of the trees under the waxing gibbous. She'd have preferred to operate under a new moon, but this was one of the better nights from the next week of predicted storms, and the best window they had between check-ins.

She had a natural disadvantage to scouting out the camp as she was approaching it from lower ground, but the guards were more interested in keeping their prisoners inside rather than protecting them from outside threats. Ones who shouldn't know where the camps were located in the first place.

Didn't make the traps surrounding the camps any easier to navigate. They were just as effective as keeping in as keeping out.

Bleak barracks stood protected by a double layer of barbed electric fences which were nestled further behind a bed of mines.

Technology had long since upgraded from these types of prisons, but nothing screamed more lethal than electricity and explosives. Then there were the guard towers spaced equally along the perimeter, the tens of spotlights roaming the area around her, and the machine guns in those towers.

Fun.

The thermographic scopes with alarms added another type of challenge entirely. The SDC Knights seemed more overkill than anything at this point.

Thankfully, this wouldn't be her first time dealing with those annoyances. She drew ice dust from her reserves within Gambol's sheath and let it spread across her form, masking her internal temperature from the cameras. The ice clone sat on the precipice of being created, acting as a second skin.

At best, they'd detect a blue blur moving within their range and not a bright red blur instead.

Timing a gap in between the spotlights and the guard sweeps, she took a running leap and began threading the minefield, keeping her Faunus instincts fully spread out. Trusting her gut feeling for whenever a foot or hand came to close to danger as she pirouetted towards the fence.

This was going to hurt.

She took a deep breath and walked into the electric fence.

* * *

 _Bianca_

She snorted and spawned a glyph in front of her body, anchoring it to move with her while she moved across a series of tiny glyphs just barely above the ground. The bright white nature of the glyphs was replaced with a muted black, keeping her presence hidden.

It was a trick avoiding all the spotlights, but as long as the first glyph blocked the view of the IR camera then she'd make it to the fence eventually.

Leaping up onto the side of a tower and sticking to it with another multipurpose glyph, she peered over the lip to see three guards sitting around a table, playing cards. Their weapons rested against their legs and their NGVs sat on top of their heads, unneeded in the brightly lit compartment.

A glyph spawned at the mid waist of them, spanning the diameter of the room, startling the guards, but they knew no more as it severed their spinal cords. Their top halves slid onto the floor, blood running freely from the major cut arteries, the shock killing them before the blood loss.

One tower down, more than a dozen to go.

* * *

 _Neo_

An illusion of a guard took down its copy before he could do so much as squawk. It was probably a nice surprise to the guard to look into his own eyes before he died. Another guard sat slumped against the wall with his throat slashed open.

Completely silent takedowns as both guards had been facing away from the centre of the room when Neo created a copy to infiltrate the tower.

She was left with a tenth of her reserves after just one usage of her Semblance. Corporeal illusions were incredibly difficult to sustain, and at over half a kilometer away, the cost was exponential.

Giving mental commands to illusions through binoculars wasn't particularly easy when she had no clear point of view sightlines from her position.

The fake began to slowly sweep the IR camera in one direction, letting Neo cartwheel across the minefield without a care in the world. As if she'd let pressure sensitive mines kill her when she probably didn't weigh more than a feather, but now she had the problem of the electric fences, and any Aura boosted jump would disturb the soil enough to detonate a mine.

Being small had its advantages.

* * *

 _Bianca_

This was disheartening.

Beyond disheartening.

These people were less than prisoners, all crammed into tight living conditions with limited amenities, and forced to work devastatingly long and arduous hours in dangerous conditions with no pay.

Mining Dust was inherently dangerous due to its highly reactive properties. Fire and Lightning Dust were among to most volatile Dust and took more lives on accident than anything else, and due to the nature of underground mining, any explosion caused cave-ins and more deaths.

Let's not get into Gravity Dust.

She turned a corner, following two guards as they continued on their patrol route. The temporary dye prevented her lustrous white hair from glinting in the low moonlight. They were down before they could react to the hands on their necks as Bianca spawned tiny glyphs at the base of their skulls, painlessly severing the spinal cord.

It was better than they deserved. These were about the seventieth ones she had had to dispose of, and the process was starting to get dull. Find, eliminate, dispose, repeat, and once she got rid of their main command complex, all she had to do was get rid of the patrols.

She dragged the bodies into one of the buildings and would've moved to continue with clearing the camp out if she didn't notice a small figure reaching a hand out through the grate of a cell.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

There were children here.

* * *

 _Kara_

Water may be a purely nonconductive material, but she still felt the electrical shock of the fence pass through her as she discarded her ice clone and passed to the other side.

Great for avoiding pain and getting through semi-permeable walls, except if electricity was in play. It screwed with Aura the most, interfering all the way down to the level of neurons.

But she was in the camp and moving rapidly towards the command complex. A few clouds in the air guaranteed her almost undetectable appearance as she meandered to the camp center.

Her forward progress was slowed to a halt as she avoided patrol after patrol, not willing to risk roof hopping in case the tower guards saw anything.

Shifting Gambol into its pistol form, she switched grip onto her ribbons and tossed it onto the roof, latching it onto the lip. A quick check of her surroundings and she clambered up onto the roof. Picking up her weapon, she used it this time to jimmie open the ventilation and slip inside.

Crawling forward at an agonizingly slow pace to reduce noise, she made it to the area above the main security area.

She removed the suppressor from her leg pouch and screwed it onto Gambol.

* * *

 _Neo_

This was almost disheartening easy.

Not one patrol bothered stopping her as she and a guard duplicate make their way to the security complex.

She was, of course, disguised as a guard as well.

The stolen credentials from a guard allowed her access to any door and she was at the inner sanctum within minutes.

Another swipe of the card and she was in a room with seemingly hundreds of displays monitoring everything from resource production to external security.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Victim #1 asked her as she and her clone strode into the room.

An unfamiliar face smiled back at him before she lifted her stolen weaponry and fired a shot into his skull.

Let chaos ensue.

* * *

 _Bianca_

She flicked the lights on for the barracks and was treated to a view of a large holding cell filled with family after family huddled into tight knit groups, wincing as the bright light stung her eyes.

The little boy, who had initially gotten her attention, startled at the image of a person in all black standing amongst the two guard corpses.

Bianca left just as quickly as she had entered the building, leaving the lights on and the room's inhabitants to wonder what was going on.

Only a few more guards to go until she could automatically release all of them from the console room and call in the Airships.

And she'd win the bet for fastest silent liberation time.

* * *

 _Kara_

The sound of Kara kicking in the grate ripped the guards' attention from the monitors. They only had moments to take in the form of a tall and elegant Faunus before six precise and silenced shots left her as the only one standing.

Their bodies dropped almost comically to the floor, eyes wide as they realised their deaths had been caused by an object of their scorn.

Moments later, the entire security system was deactivated except for the guard tower spotlights. The Faunus would remain in their cells until it was safe to release them; until Kara finished with the rest of the guards, and they were now isolated in their towers, without central comms.

She and Neo were at a distinct disadvantage when compared to Bianca's near omnipotent Semblance, and there was no way she was losing a bet with the highest stakes they'd ever played with.

* * *

 _Neo_

The first guard fell in a shower of blood and bone as the bullet shattered his skull and splattered grey matter behind him.

She moved before the first bullet hit the guard, crossing the room in a single bound to plant a kick into another guard's chest, the strength behind it caving in the cavity and crushing his heart and lungs, throwing him against the wall monitors.

The gun left her hand with tremendous speed and flew at yet another guard, causing a traumatic brain hemorrhage. He collapsed before he could get his handgun up in defence.

Her parasol snapped open, the structured polymer composite canopy deflecting the bullets sent her way from a pair of guards on the far side of the room. She commanded the copy of the guard to charge at the pair, drawing brief fire before it shattered, giving Neo enough time to pull the carbon fibre knives from her boots and throw them at their throats. Blood poured out from between their fingers as they tried to staunch the flow, but they succumbed to the suffocating grip of the crimson as their lungs lost the ability to process oxygen, the alveoli clogged from the coagulant.

She retrieved her knives, janking them out firmly and causing a spray of blood to shoot up and paint her body. The warmth of it permeated her clothing.

Grabbing a whole arsenal of weaponry from the dead, she set about to find the big, red, and surely obvious alarm button. After all, she shouldn't deny the other guards the fun of dancing with her.

* * *

 _Nova_

She knew Neo would never abide by the silent runnings of the operation, and sighed when several loud klaxons started going off around the camp. She held back the rest of her Hunters as they looked angsty and ready to deploy at the slightest hint of action, but a quick reminder of their duties had them back to squatting in their respective ships.

The sounds of gunfire ripped through the valley, interrupted by the screams of men. Hopefully Neo had taken out the transmitting array or the team in charge of it, or they'd be fending off swarms of SDC personnel and potentially the Atlesian armada.

Most of the guard towers were abandoned as more and more personnel were pulled away from defending the camp borders to whichever area Neo was calling them to. The localized alarm was usually used to call guards to an area of Faunus unrest, but Neo was using it to corral everyone she needed to one place.

Which left Nova the ability to walk across the minefield, tripping them whenever her foot landed on top of one. The first mine exploded the area around her, triggering a few surrounding ones, which in turn caused a chain reaction until the last couldn't reach the next.

She couldn't feel the drop in Aura as mine after mine detonated on her way forward, the only indication of the ground ordinance was the pressure blast of warm air up her legs and the sight of dirt. Behind her lay a path devoid of mines, but the Faunus wouldn't be leaving this way anyhow.

The fences' supporting struts didn't last long against her fortified limbs as she pulled them down, careful to avoid touching the electrified wire. There were no guards left to stop her on her rampage as she ripped towers and fences apart, drawing some guards after her.

Her warpath enticed scores of guards from wherever they were congregated. Not as many as she'd like, but if she grabbed any from Neo's pile then they'd either end up in a brawl in the middle of the camp with prisoner casualties, or they'd both end up in a frenzy and end up with more casualties.

Bianca wouldn't forgive her since she wasn't there to indulge in the heated aftermath.

* * *

 _Summer_

The rooftop of the Council House was a lush and abundant garden, spanning the entire building, eventually sloping down and meeting the ground. At this time of the evening, there was absolutely no one with her and she'd have it no other way.

Not even her team could be here for this.

Two cups of tea sat slowly cooling in front of her in the breeze, forgotten as Summer meditated, ignoring the sounds of the city in the far background. Her Aura pulsed in steady rhythm, but she kept a firm hold of the potency behind it, only letting her signature reach out into the world.

At the broadcast strength, she'd still ping on any sensor within 200 kilometers, but she wasn't after anyone within Vale.

When Neo and her had fought next to the mountains in their first bout, their Auras had resonated off one another, boosting their terrifying presence.

It'd only have worked if they had the exact same Aura patterns to create constructive interference. Even if their Aura was the smallest percentage off, their Auras would've fought each other in repeated cascades.

She stretched her Aura out to reach the one sensor she knew was looking for her, but had no reference point to find her. She knew nothing about how her Aura felt, but she knew what Neo's felt.

A presence latched onto her Aura and Summer smiled truly. Her request for an audience had been granted and the pull intensified as a being dragged itself into the real world.

A black and red portal appeared in the seat across from her as the pull on her core abated, relinquishing the crushing feeling of a hand around her heart. The Aura the being grabbed corrupted under the corrosive presence and she was forced to sacrifice it to the goddess in front of her.

Summer moved the second cup of tea over to her guest.

"Salem."

Her red eyes stared at Summer's heterochromatic ones, alit in curiosity and bemusement.

* * *

 _Bianca_

The last guard fell just as silently as the rest of them had, collapsing next to his fallen partner.

It had been messy work, moving across the camp in the shadows to strike from behind or above. Then she'd hide the bodies and continue on, coming across scared and terrified Faunus in each and every barrack. She didn't give them any words, keeping her mouth shut until the deed was done.

If she wore her white clothing, then they'd be completely pristine. All of her assassinations had been achieved by cutting their spinal cords internally. The less isolated kills were achieved from long range, spawning glyphs to guards and then maiming them with the impossibly thin edge.

She backtracked to the first barracks, confident the entire camp's security forces had been disabled. The first two guards were still slumped in the corridor containing the cells, but the families in them were crowded as far away from the bars as they could, afraid they'd be blamed for their deaths.

The little boy she saw earlier sat nestled in his mother's arms, which tightened around her son as Bianca made her presence known, nudging the corpses aside to stand in front of the cell.

A small glyph, infused with ice Dust, appeared within the locking mechanism and a well placed strike shattered it, opening the cell door. Suspicious of a trap, the mother tried their best to press herself against the wall.

Bianca stood their, hand outstretched, waiting for the boy to realise she wasn't there to hurt or punish him or his family. He peeked out through his black bangs, nervous but unheeding of his mother's arms, and reached out to her hand.

She pulled her face mask down as his hand met hers and she stood from her crouch, pulling the boy with her. He didn't flinch when she revealed her gruesome scar, but his mother refused to let her son go with this stranger.

"Come on." She extended her other hand to the mother and smiled, trying to instill some measure of trust. "You're being moved."

The mother didn't meet her eyes, keeping her head down, but still followed Bianca's orders, reminding the High Commander these people were prisoners and followed orders or were punished.

"This camp, along with the other five operated by the SDC, are being shut down and destroyed for the illegal detainment of the sentient humanoid beings known as Faunus, and being relocated to the sovereign nation of Menagerie." Bianca recited her official orders from memory, but neither of the two reacted to how she thought they would, keeping their heads bowed. "Please move to the main square, along with any belongings you have with you."

They had nothing more than the clothes on their backs and each other as Bianca led them out, keeping the boy's hand in her own. Others in their cells began to stir as they noticed something was happening that wasn't in the norm.

Bianca pulled the lever at the entrance to the barracks and released every cell door at once, flicking a number of switches to get both the lights and the morning alarm working. She briefly stopped and turned to the Faunus staggering out of their prisons, the boy smiling at her side.

"In accordance with our evacuation protocols, please line-up with your belongings while you're loaded and transported away." They all eyed her shiftily, believing this to be a trap to get them punished if they tried to escape, but there were going to be punished if they didn't listen.

The guards never used requests to get them moving, only orders and threats of violence to get them to comply. It gave the Faunus courage to step out of their cells to see a figure in black along with two Faunus, and two guards slumped over against the wall next to them.

Bianca discreetly dragged them behind her and flicked the corpses off to the side to clear up the escape route. They wisely chose to follow this mysterious stranger's directions, weighing the options of escape over any form of punishment from the warden and his guards.

* * *

 _Kara_

She was a blur as she sprinted across the camp, trailing a line of black petals behind her as she rushed to make up time for her long and tedious journey through the minefields, fences, and the ducts of the command complex.

The security building was a massacre as she executed any personnel she could find with all falling to precise gunfire or a knife to the throat when she ran out of ammunition. The doors leading to any important room were jammed with a well placed kick in case she missed someone.

She spent just a couple seconds ripping apart the guards in the towers before leaping into the next, dispatching her judgement onto the souls within.

No matter how quickly she moved from tower to tower, her frenzied killing attracted attention. Even in the dark, the camp's security forces were starting to realise sometime was happening when they could no longer communicate with the central hub. Her kills had been silent, but sight traveled faster than she could.

There were no doubt a couple of personnel moving from the border to check on the inner camp workings when their short range FM radios weren't able to get responses from almost any tower or patrol group they came across.

* * *

 _Neova_

She found her partner for this mission panting heavily, drenched in blood, and standing on a massive pile of corpses.

Compared to the trail of bodies she left behind in her wake, Neo had definitely come up on the win. Her boots sloshed through the muddy and bloody ground, kicking about and ruining the leather permanently.

She'd chosen the evacuation spot to perform her debut, the exact spot they had asked her not to bring people to, but Nova was just satisfied she hadn't demolished any buildings in her slaughterfest. They would have to use one of the major pathways instead.

If Nova was a better person, she'd have flinched or grimaced as Neo stepped off the corpses, eliciting cracks from their mangled bodies as her Aura enhanced steps broke bone and cartilage.

How Neo managed to so perfectly arrange a mountain of bodies was her own secret since the guards all carried ranged weapons and didn't need to engage her in close quarter combat, but she _was_ an absolute menace with her illusions.

Neo needed this outlet much more than Summer. The last proper conflict she'd been a part of was the Faunus Rights Revolution, and that was nearing twenty years ago, and they'd rather Neo keep the slumbering demon within her quiet, satisfied, and chained up.

Summer's remained placant from their last defence of Vale, and before that, the destruction of Vacuo.

The Morality Clause had been one of the few laws Summer had brought over from their dimension and immediately implemented with her Hunters as part of her appointment. The Hunters now had a duty to disobey any and all unlawful or unethical orders from their superiors as long as they could document the reason.

Never again would Summer again ask Bianca and Nova to wipe the map of Vacuo, but the law set a precedent for the next Commanders down the line, both in the military and the Hunters. However much of the original Ruby Rose survived in Summer, there was a small part telling her the deaths of hundreds of millions was an impulsive mistake.

Never again.

* * *

 _District One - Council House Rooftop Garden_

"Thank you." Salem took the offered cup, not bothering to check for any poisons and not suspecting any foul play from the gift. She had been called here, not the other way around. "You're not the person I expected to see when I answered the call of your Aura."

"Would you mind dropping the disguise?" If Salem was surprised Summer knew about her altered appearance, she didn't show it. Her deathly pallor brightened into a more healthy tan, and the purple and red veins on her skin disappeared.

Summer let the facade she wore disperse, letting Salem see into the depths of her fractured soul.

Negotiations were all about compromise.

"Neo and I share nearly identical Aura signatures, enough to be mistaken by even the best sensors when we pulse our Auras. You might have felt us resonating a couple of weeks ago when we sparred."

"You two caused quite a stir in my Grimm. Her Aura alone causes enough confusion when they realise they can't feed off of it. Her reconnaissance in Beacon didn't go unnoticed, I take it?"

"Hard to hide when our Auras rather enjoy being in the presence of one another."

"You knew Neo would be in Beacon to investigate your appearance, knew you'd be able to locate her, and knew your Auras were similar enough to draw my attention. You called me here, knowing full well I would answer the call. Why?"

"Are you not at all interested in the woman you supposedly killed?" Salem's eyes narrowed dangerously, staring directly at Summer's silver eye before moving her gaze to stare at the empty eye socket.

Not empty, but void.

"Summer Rose died more than a decade ago at my hands and was the last Silvereye in Remnant. I was sure of it until her daughter made an appearance at the Vytal Festival." Summer nodded along with her observation. "With your _unique_ Aura signature, you wouldn't be able to hide from me."

"So who am I, goddess?"

"My brother wouldn't have given you command of his legacy unless you could prove to him you deserved it. As this is the first time I sensed you, your affliction is new, and Oz would never stop down for you. Which means you've proven you can handle it. Summer Rose is dead, and for her death, I'm sorry... Ruby."

"If Oz gave me his legacy, then I'd currently sit as the reigning monarch of Vale, not just the Commander of the Hunters. I assume you recognize my weapon as her daughter's?"

"Not many are capable of wielding such a large scythe, and Summer wielded kusarigamas."

"Are you really sorry for my mother's death or is this a ploy? I just got out of a meeting with the Council and I can't quite tell over the amount of political bullshit they tried to lay on me."

"I'm sorry I took away your mother, but I'm not sorry for her death. My brother's legacy was a mistake I needed to rectify it, but she had a daughter I missed. Does she remain ignorant of her heritage?"

"Oz has hinted in the past, but not anything explicit. Our history was wiped long before the Great War."

"If she discovers how to use it correctly, I'll kill her, personally." Salem pointed to the abyss Summer had instead of a functioning eye. "You, on the other hand, have already used it to the point of sacrificing one of your eyes."

"So kill me." Summer looked completely detached to the idea of her death.

"I should. Not only did Oz break the rules of interdimensional travel by bringing you here, making you an anomaly, he brought over someone who's used his gift to humanity before. I've spent more than enough time hunting his children down to continue adhering to our rules."

"Ozpin had nothing to do with my appearance in this dimension. My teammate possesses a frightening intellect, and my team as a whole combined our Semblances to break through the dimensional barriers."

"I knew, eventually, Semblances would cause problems, but nothing at this level of chaos. Do refrain from breaking the rules of reality."

"Sure Grandma." Salem sputtered through her tea, wiping it from her face with dignity.

"Please don't remind me I had a hand in creating your species. It's bad enough my brother sends me annoying postcards on Mother's Day."

"You have your Grimm, styled after yourself, and he has humankind, styled after himself."

"The perfect two species to remain locked in an everlasting war of attrition. My Grimm kill some humans, and then your Hunters kill some on my children."

"A tentative balance."

"Except Ozpin broke the balance with his direct sires." Summer listened astutely, absorbing this information. "He shouldn't have been surprised I'd retaliate at some point."

"You eradicated the Silvereyes. They pose no threat to you."

"That's not the point child. He's an impudent little brother who gets away with anything he wants because I love him, but he has to grow up at some point, learn his creations aren't permanent. It hurts whenever I lose one of my Grimm, yet I understand that's the cycle."

"So you use the White Fang to do your dirty work, reminding him his creations harm themselves more than your creations ever could."

"Precisely."

"You ever think about talking to him?"

"Just like now, with you and me?" Salem threw her head back and laughed for a good few seconds. "He'd never answer my call. He believes me too evil to work with."

"Yet here we are. Two leaders of opposing sides in the everlasting war. I wasn't expecting the history lesson. All I want is the White Fang and Cinder to go away."

"I'll cut my support for them once I ensure the Relics are safe, either in my hands or in their Vaults. He can keep Choice and Creation, but Knowledge and Destruction are mine."

"I'll see what I can do." Summer understood asking Salem for more than she had was pushing it. She'd already stopped her from taking Ruby's life prematurely. "They aren't my Relics to give. Beacon holds Choice."

"I've already interfered enough for the while. No doubt Oz's planning his next moves against me, but I'm sure you'll work it out."

"How do I know anything you've told and tell me is true?" Summer never had the chance to questions Salem like she had tonight.

"You don't, but unlike my brother, you understand life isn't perfect and sometimes, we can't always get what we want. I have no doubt Ozpin will tell you a different story if you ask him."

"You've given me much to think about Grandmother." Salem twitched at her new nickname. "Would you care to hear my story?"

Salem nodded.

"You won in my dimension. Ozpin went missing during the White Fang assault on Beacon and never reappeared again. The Fang successfully provoked a war between Vale and Atlas, and your Grimm thrived from it, eventually overwhelming the city-states."

"My brother isn't one to leave without a plan. He has a nasty habit of asking others to use their bodies." She set her drink down. "The world is a balancing act, and war always tips it to one side. I can't control how my Grimm spawn, but at some point, I assume my Grimm overran the planet?"

"I lost my eye taking down one of your Armageddon Grimm, flying beings three kilometers in length. We jumped to this dimension after realising we were screwed and couldn't defeat them."

"The balance resets when there's nothing to weigh down either side. Except for Neo, she survives just about everything you can throw at her."

"Neo is special. She's old, possibly older than both Ozpin or I. Terrifying as an opponent, and even more so as an ally, she slinks through history as a shade, influencing events whenever Oz or I need her to, and keeps us on our toes whenever she acts on her own."

"She's under the impression you're a malevolent and vengeful goddess out to destroy the world. I'm inclined to agree."

"Destruction is the opposite of creation, yet neither can be classified as good nor evil. She's right on both counts."

"Will you leave Beacon alone if I help you get your Relics?"

"Attacking Beacon was nothing more than a showcase against Ozpin. It never meant to spiral towards the war of your dimension. If Ozpin couldn't defend his Relic then by what right does he have to keep it?"

"You gave Cinder control of a drake to destroy the CCTS tower." Summer replied in boredom, making Salem wonder if she cared at all about anything.

"She has her own crusade against the Maidens, just as the White Fang have their own. Do I care whether the Academy gets destroyed? No. Do I care if the Fang harass your Hunters? No. Do I care if they incite a war? Still no, because the end result is balance. Grimm can't exist without humanity, yet humanity need them to keep itself in check."

"Most people would call you evil." Summer started. "I believe you're a necessary force in the world, just as Ozpin is. I can work with you, but I still have a job to do. I'm still the Commander of Beacon, and you understand what that entails, just as I understand Grimm are a manifestation of negative emotions."

"Then we have an accord. I'll withdraw my support from Cinder and the Fang, if you help me get my Relics back."

"Half of the Fall Maiden's powers rests in one of my Hunters. As much as I want you to stop interfering, I can't have you or Cinder going after one of mine."

"If Cinder wants to kill herself going after one of your Hunters, that's her choice, not mine, nor anyone else's. I won't help her, but neither will I stop her. It's your job to ensure she doesn't get the Relics, not mine.

"Done. I also want your assurance you won't go after Ruby, or supply your Grimm to either the White Fang or Cinder for their operations."

"You're asking for quite more than I'm willing to offer. Ruby will be left alone, unless she learns to use her heritage, and agrees to never reproduce. Her line will die with her. I won't supply the White Fang and Cinder with Grimm anymore, but keep in mind they are competent enough to capture them for their own use."

"What do you want?"

"I like you. I don't know why, but I do, but you're also an able threat which wouldn't exist if Ozpin didn't have a soft spot."

Summer held out her hand, already knowing what she wanted. Less than a month ago, she had seen the absolute power Ozpin's gift had granted her as she stared down a manifestation of hate and misunderstanding. "Take it."

"You understand what you're giving up?" Summer nodded and Salem took her hand. "You're better than most of your species, willing to sacrifice yourself for your people."

Summer tried to thank her, but only managed a grunt as Salem invaded her Aura, searching for the sliver of her brother within. She latched onto it once she found it, tearing it from Summer's core, causing an implosion as it violently reacted to the action.

"You're taking this better than I imagined." Salem remarked as Summer's remaining silver iris faded, replaced by another empty void, completing the matching set.

"It's a small price to pay for the brief safety of my people. I'll talk to Ruby when I get back to Beacon, and I'll let you know whether or not she agrees to your terms."

"The same conditions apply to you. I don't enjoy hunting children and I won't leave another orphan just because you refused to not reproduce."

"I was sterilized as part of my torture regime in my dimension. It's why Neo's and my Aura are so similar."

"I can heal your body, save for your ovaries, of course." Salem offered. "I'm more surprised Oz hasn't. I took something away, now you get something back."

"Take the brand off my shoulder blade and I'll call it even." A burning feeling appeared at the same spot of the White Fang brand, searing it from her back. Another stab of pain lanced up her left arm. "What did you do?"

"You gave up an immensely powerful gift for a temporary armistice with my children. You're helping restore the balance my brother upset, and for that, I gave you a gift in return."

A small fluffy canine coalesced from the darkness and sat on Summer's lap, red eyes blinking as it gained sentience, shaking its body as it gained feeling. Summer's hands automatically reached down to it and began stroking its fur.

"It doesn't have a name yet, but it's yours. Treat it well or I'll invent a new Grimm to permanently haunt you in your dreams." Summer blinked back, reminding her of her other condition. "Right, I'll invent a new one to haunt your Hunters."

"I'm surprised one doesn't already exist."

"The human mind is a complicated mess of emotions and chemicals. Give me enough drive or reason and I'll figure it out, so don't tempt me."

"My Hunters might take offense to this little guy, but as long as he remains this size and can follow orders, I can protect him."

"There's a small black diamond on the back of your hand which lets you give basic commands to it."

"I wish our language had a gender neutral pronoun. Her name is Rei, short for Re'iyah. And please move the diamond to my back. I'd rather not have to explain why I have black veins stretching up my arm."

"Grimm don't have genders; they manifest as beings." Summer felt the black diamond disappear along with the veins, only for it to reappear at the center of her back, right over her heart, black veins stretching from the back of her shoulders down to her hips. "There. Now you have a larger one to show off whenever you want."

Summer wiped the blood dripping from her left eye and removed the ribbon from around her neck, tying it around her eyes, hiding the ends under her hair.

"I'll contact you through Rei or the diamond when I talk to the Hunter with the Fall Maiden power, but won't giving me the diamond violate the balance just as Ozpin's gift did?"

"In a way, yes, but neither is it hereditary, nor do you have control over any Grimm other than Re'iyah here. She'll only feed if you let her, also letting you control her size along with giving you the ability to store her."

"Interesting, but back to the topic of Relics. I still haven't agreed to help you retrieve yours, and I won't until you explain what they are and why you should have them."

"Did the other Salem not go after the Relics?"

"She probably did, but my team and I didn't care enough to stop you. Something about the next Great War being a much greater threat than the potential of artifacts of the distant past."

"They're not artifacts; they're aspects of power we locked away to give this instance of the world a chance to thrive. Every Relic corresponds to how the world was shaped, and locking them prevented either of us from interfering, to a point. Oz still managed to find loopholes."

"My team won't agree to giving you two of the Relics. They'll want to destroy all of them when they get the chance."

"Fine by me. Destroy all of them. They're containers, not the actual attributes. Think of them as seals to prevent either of us reaching out for them, specifically crafted from Knowledge and Creation to hide. Either way, I'll get them back, with or without your help."

"Hmm. You've given me even more to think about." Summer finished off the rest of her tea. "Any way you can teleport me back to Beacon? Can't exactly pilot a craft anymore."

"I can. Neo hasn't realized yet I would send her anywhere she wanted if all she did was ask."

"She's mute." Summer deadpanned.

"Exactly." Summer was engulfed in a miasma of red as Salem sent her away. If Salem truly wanted nothing more than to keep the Relics safe, and presumably out of humanity's hands, then why did she give Cinder control over a drake?

Neo.

Salem knew Neo would tell Ozpin about the imminent attack, and if Ozpin successfully defended against it, then it was his right to keep the Relic within Beacon. It was nothing more than a test, a game between the two. If Cinder did retrieve the Relic, then Salem would be there to take it back, but Cinder seemed more interested in the power behind the Maidens, not the Relics themselves.

Why couldn't they just have a slugfest like a normal, semi-functional family?

Summer blinked as she appeared, she assumed, somewhere in Beacon. A small weight impacted her head, and by the shifting about of paws, she deduced it was Rei getting comfortable in her hair. She was small enough to lay down without risk of falling off.

Everything she learned from Salem could've been a carefully crafted manipulation to not only leave Beacon's new Commander crippled, but also give Salem a spy in the form of Rei.

Protecting Ruby in the long run paled in comparison to letting Salem literally disable her. She'd neutralized the help the White Fang and Cinder would receive but didn't get a guarantee those were the only factions she was helping.

Salem had been right in concluding humanity was its own biggest threat rather than her Grimm. To those who knew the Relics existed, they beckoned, just as the Maidens did.

Neither of the two meetings she had gone through today had gone in any direction she wanted. The initial Council meeting had Summer leading them where she wanted them to, but they had wrested control from her at the last moment.

With Salem, she had expected anger and smiting, but had instead been received cordially. She had been a surprisingly amicable person/being/goddess to talk and discuss the current battle climate. She reminded her of a more devious Ozpin.

She'd been open about information and the history of the Relics, along with her own plans and designs on them, willing to either keep them safe or destroy them as safeguards against humanity. She'd never once implied or hinted that Cinder knew about the Relics.

At this point she was more willing to believe the Relics were chotskies meant as bait to draw out the worst of humanity as they fought and killed each other over the mythos of unimaginable power.

To get all four Relics would require conflict stretching across the globe as a single entity would need to not only lay siege to each Academy, but its surrounding country. Something the White Fang were ever so slowly doing.

Except their reward would be a big 'fuck you' when they retrieved all four. She could imagine the shit-eating grin on Salem's face if that was the case, proving once and for all Ozpin was wrong.

Rei padded restlessly against her head, ushering her to move forward. A small weight materialised hanging off her leg pouch and Summer snatched it up, feeling it and determining they were a pair of sunglasses. She removed the ribbon, placing it back around her neck and put on the shades.

At first glance, no one could tell she was blind, but the first test would be whether Team RWBY could tell when she took them to Menagerie.

Neo had tried to teach her how to sense Auras, but she had had the hereditary gift and intrinsically found it easy, even with the chaotic nature of her Aura. Summer had failed spectacularly, but one part of her training had involved pulsing Aura in regular intervals and reading the echoes of return bounces, an altered form of echolocation.

She did precisely that, sending out a pulse in all direction. The most obvious return was the ground around her, along with the sharp drop off of it ten meters in almost all directions. Salem had dropped her on the landing pads hanging off Beacon's cliffs.

Figures she'd innocently try to kill her as she tried to figure out how to navigate.

The another pulse of Aura tried to map out the area again, but failed to get any further than the ramp leading off the pad. It forced Summer to not only memorise the pattern of returned Aura but also repeat the process several times a second if she wanted to apply the same method in combat.

Even Nova would struggle to maintain the output needed to extend the range and pulse domes of Aura without rest.

Rei.

Salem had given her to her directly after Summer had sacrificed the last of her silver eyes. Not before as a sign of goodwill, and not after Summer had listened to everything she had to say, but after she'd been blinded.

She called it a gift, and she knew Salem was an intelligent goddess.

Channeling her Aura into the diamond, she resisted the urge to contact Salem and instead focused on the little Beowolf sitting on her head. She perked up upon sensing Summer's Aura and opened her eyes from her impromptu nap. Rei wasn't even an hour old and Summer hadn't fed her yet; her primitive mind was a blank of everything except the loyalty commands to both Salem and Summer.

She was going to borrow Rei's eyes.

Healing her eyes was an irreparable task to Salem so she'd given her another way to see. Replacing them would have been another option, but she didn't have human eyes at her disposal, and replacing them with a Grimm creation wasn't a boon Summer would've thought to ask.

She had no doubt Bianca would donated her an eye once her team found out she was blind and couldn't find a different way to see. Gesture of goodwill from Salem, indeed.

Her vision exploded in shades of muted colours as she succeeded in funneling her Aura into Rei. It was a substantially less intensive task than the Aura pulses were. She could see again, in much greater clarity than her birth vision. Remnant's moon little light in this phase, but she could still make out individual blades of grass along with the colours of the flowers lining the path to the school.

She tried moving forward, but quickly found she merged too much of her Aura into Rei as she ended up moving Rei's back paw instead of her own, still feeling the light collision as the paw met her head.

Concentrating on pulling the vast majority of her Aura from Rei, she managed to maintain the sight link and regain control of her body. She had no idea if Rei lost her own sight while they were connected like this, but she hadn't made a fuss.

Carefully taking her first steps forward, she felt slightly disoriented as her sight came from just above her head instead of from her sockets. Must be how Neo felt all the bloody time.

It was still better than being completely blind or relying on the rough outlines created from the Aura pulses.

The walk to the dorms was enlightening as she got used to new hues of colour. In a few hours, around midnight, the supporting Hunters would take off to Menagerie. Winter's Hunters had allowed Summer to cut the manpower needed by half, but they would still be supplying the supporting units until Menagerie could get the Academy up and running properly. She still had to choose the five teams who'd be teaching.

Team RWBY was going as a supporting unit, giving them vital experience in crisis management along with a crash courses in first aid. If Menagerie got on its feet in time, they might be able to attend the next Vytal Festival.

She was surprised the Council hadn't brought the subject up during their meeting, but the Festival was under governance of them and not her. She only failed to provide the necessary security.

The knock on Team RWBY's door was answered almost immediately by a hyperactive Ruby ready and raring to go. Yang perked up when Ruby opened the door, but reverted back to sulking as she'd been told Summer would come clean about the irregularities in her persona.

Their secrets were starting to pile up and at some point, they'd find out. It just mattered whether SKBN controlled the circumstances or not.

Re'iyah started growling at the presence of the purifying effects of Ruby's silver eyes, shifting about restlessly, which prompted the ever elusive Zwei to jump in front of Ruby and growl back, prompting her to pick him up and calm him down.

"You four ready to go?" Summer tried not to react to the pup nestled in her hair.

"You have a Beowolf sitting on your head." Ruby pointed out, unsure of the protocol associated with this scenario.

"I do?" Summer betrayed nothing, patting her hair and feigning surprise as she scratched the nape of Rei's neck, causing her to calm down and resume her vigil. "Rei, how did you get up there?"

Rei yipped back, enjoying the attention lavished on her. Of course, this was all done with Summer having to act with her altered vision perspective.

"She can't harm anyone...probably. Now do you have your go-bags, or am I going to have to have you run laps in the dark?" She left them in the room, slowly meandering her way to the hangars. Team RWBY was on her heels before she rounded the corner into the stairwell.

* * *

AN: How high am I? 5'11" Welcome to the wonderful world of politics and betrayals. Is Salem lying or does she honestly want to keep the Relics safe? Is Oz permanently hyped up on cocoa? What is his family dynamic? Is Neo older than both Oz and Salem? Why doesn't Salem care about the Maidens? Will she use Rei to spy on Beacon? Will RWBY learn about Summer's condition? Will Yang ever learn about Summer's true persona? What will SKBN do once they find out about Summer's alliance?

Re'iyah: Meaning 'sight' or 'vision' in Hebrew

Find out next time on Butterflies: Chapter 13: Penance.

I completely forgot this story was suppose to be slightly cracked with an overtone of realism. Yes, Neo is an edgelord, but she's terrifying enough as it is to justify it.

As always, drop a review. I always appreciate criticism.

PS: To those wondering why an update notification went to their inboxes, it's because I noticed Chapter 6 wasn't properly formatted. Should be fixed.


	13. Thirteen - Penance

Chapter Thirteen

* * *

 **Penance**

* * *

 _Bullhead - Above Northern Sanus, moving towards Menagerie_

Piloting had required only an adjustment of the seat as Rei sat obediently on top of her head and allowed her to steer the bullhead out of the hangar before setting the autopilot to fly the craft to Menagerie.

The partition to the fuselage only offered a brief moment of respite before Yang and the rest of RWBY nearly ripped the door off its hinges, Summer having isolated herself before RWBY could catch up to her.

Leaving her seat, she opened the door, letting them fall haphazardly into the cockpit. She stepped over them, walking to the back of the fuselage and settling against the supplies piled there.

They managed to sort themselves out of the dog pile and sat around Summer, staring at the Grimm seemingly observing them, looking completely unperturbed it sat on one of the deadliest Hunter's head.

Zwei growled at the Grimm again, setting himself between it and Ruby, but Rei didn't bother answering back, trusting her new mother.

Summer and James were picking up strays faster than Qrow picked up alcohol.

"So… we going to continue to ignore the Grimm you have on your head?" Yang crossed her arms, willing the Grimm out of existence. Her new muted gold arm operated soundlessly, gears and hydraulics seamlessly working.

"Or the fact you're wearing shades inside, while it's dark." Blake pointed out, trying to see pass the tinted glass.

Salem had created the lenses as mirrors instead, an irony in itself; the silver resembling the sacrifice she made.

Summer pulled Rei from her hair, stuttering as her vision violently shifted down to her lap. It was first time Summer felt Rei didn't possess a face plate like her older versions.

If she had to guess, Rei resembled a wolf pup created out of wisps of darkness instead of fur.

"I'm not ignoring her. You're just making a fuss." Rei flattened into her lap, ears pressing down, enjoying the ministrations of her hand. As much as Grimm were creations of negativity, most of their templates were taken from preexisting creatures, be they real or mythological.

Then there were the few Salem hadn't created a template for, having been born out of human nightmares rather than emotion, such as Geists and Nuckelavees. They were extremely rare, but no less dangerous.

"It's a Grimm, Mom!" Ruby gesticulated widely. Rei perked up, but whether it was from an understanding of the language or the threat of silver, Summer didn't know.

She picked up Rei and raised her to eye level as if in inspection. She was the first person in history to look at oneself directly, and not through pictures or mirrors.

"Re'iyah Weiss Rose, why didn't you tell me you were a Grimm?" She scolded mockly and received a lick on the nose from her, the barbed tongue causing her to scrunch it in irritation. "You have Zwei, and I have Rei."

"That's not the same. Zwei is an adorable puppy and that… thing… is a Grimm." Weiss rejected following through with the name Summer had given it. "And I refuse to allow you to use my name."

"You forget my name wasn't originally 'Summer'. 'Weiss' is also the original name of my other sister, and if she allows it, then that'll be her middle name, and if you don't like it, tough." Summer maintained the neck motions needed to mimic properly and directly speaking to someone. "Besides, if you're afraid of this little girl, then you don't deserve to be Hunters."

That shut RWBY up entirely. Rei was tiny, just over the size of Summer's palm where she could sit perched on someone's head. She probably couldn't even bite through the most light coating of Aura shielding and her claws served better as massage therapy than lethal weapons.

"And the shades?" Summer and Rei looked over to Blake in sync, creeping out the compartment.

"Shades are cool." Summer deadpanned and RWBY sweatdropped. They waited for her to explain further, but nothing came of it. Summer instead relaxed into her seat and pulled out her scroll, compiling the two reports from the day's meeting. The Council meeting report would be sent out to all of her Hunters, detailing the concessions Summer had to make.

The secondary report would remain within SKBN. Teams of their calibre operated on the highest level of trust, and her team had to know what she paid for their safety. She might not have told them of her initial plans for the meet with Salem, but they needed to know.

Along with the report was the official recommendation of Bianca as her replacement for when the Hunters learned of her disability. Rei sat patiently in her lap as she tapped away, letting her actually complete the paperwork needed.

Being blind wasn't enough of an excuse to not complete paperwork.

Bianca had the experience and the proper mindset to lead the Hunters while Summer was permanently stuck in the mindset of a Commander used to leading against military, not against Grimm.

Vacuo was the only black mark against her record, but the same could be said against the entire team as Summer had authorised it, Kara hadn't vetoed it, and Nova had lent her supply of Aura. It had been a brutal necessity.

Kara was in already charge of Redemption and while Nova could replace her, she was also taller and stronger than her. If Bianca acted up than all Summer had to do was wrap her in a bear hug and lift her from the ground, depriving her of the leveraged needed to fight back.

Team RWBY couldn't get it out of their heads how creepy it was that both Summer and her new pet Grimm seemed to be filling out their reports and paperwork.

They sat in silence for over an hour as Summer tapped away at her scroll and the craft carried them ever closer to Menagerie.

"Tell me how your team's been doing the last few weeks?" Summer broke the nighttime lull in the fuselage. "My team and I've been you through the wringer. Verbal reports?"

As much as RWBY wanted the personal training from their counterparts, each member of SKBN had enough responsibilities they had to put over them if they were going to survive this time around. Salem wasn't gunning for them explicitly, but Cinder and the White Fang could tear the world asunder if they tried.

"Well, you've had us mostly doing individual training both with and without Aura, except for the two days you had us do trust building exercises." The team had been together for a year, but they each still had hidden reservations they didn't know about.

One exercise had Weiss maintain a two barely formed tiny glyphs at ground level while Bianca maintained the dozens of others, creating a literal minefield RWBY had to navigate. One member would be blindfolded while the other two guided her through the field.

Blake had burnt her foot when Yang had mistakenly had her move forward instead of to the side. It was one of Weiss' and didn't hurt as bad as one of Bianca's, but Yang had slept alone that night and the next one.

Another exercise had then keeping eye contacts with each member of their team for an extended duration of time. Sounded simple, but it led to awkward and flustered moments where sheer intensity had forced them to break the connection.

"And your personal relationships?" It was during this sessions they had learned Ruby and Weiss were aimlessly meandering through their first proper relationship. The former caused the latter to blush hot enough to rival Nova in a full on rage with her innocently lewd remarks.

Giving her _Icha Icha_ was the best idea they ever had.

"Blake and Yang are still together and their teamwork is developing in leaps and bounds. Weiss and I worked on our finishing moves last night."

"Yang still has you beat with her 'finishing' move. Her mechanical fingers have a vibrate function." Summer waved a finger in front of her face, staring at the Bumblebee pair. Blake's eyes widened and she turned her head away, blushing.

"That's not what I meant!" Ruby backtracked.

"And how do you know this?" Yang narrowed her gaze onto Summer.

"I helped Nova design the arm." Summer rebutted. "And Bianca's a screamer. We continue to share a room and she can't always muffle her cries of orgasm in a pillow."

Weiss flushed the colour of Ruby's cloak.

"Why don't you give them their privacy and leave the room?"

"I've seen them all naked. I've cared for them when they've been sick, beat, crying, broken, exhausted, depressed, humiliated, angry, and incapacitated." Summer explained her team's dynamics. "Privacy takes on a shallow definition at the point when you drag your partner into the showers to wipe the grime, dirt, and blood off her body because she's too tired to do stand or do it herself."

"That's not the same and you know it." Yang was supremely uncomfortable with Summer's relationship with Nova, where she'd stay in the same room when Nova and Bianca got frisky. They were supposed to be sisters after all.

Nova had no qualms about kissing Summer to settle the score on their last trip to Menagerie, but this was taking it to a whole other level.

"There's always the off chance Kara and I get invited to a foursome." A random bag filled with medical supplies sailed her way courtesy of Yang. She didn't have Rei looking in the direction and the crate smacked hard against her head, flattening her into the rest of the cargo. "You'll never forget your first one…"

Summer trailed off, lost in a haze of emotions before her internment, all muted, much like her vision, but still able to convey feeling.

"Mom!" Ruby's shout of embarrassment shocked her awake. "She's too innocent for those ideas. She hasn't been inducted to the _Icha Icha_ order yet."

"Innocent!? You should see the things Blake and I get up to when you and Weiss sneak off on your little dates."

"Yang!" Blake hissed, grabbing her girlfriend by her arm and pulling her off balance and away from Ruby. "You don't get to lecture Summer about privacy and then spout off about our alone time."

"We at least wait until Ruby and Weiss are out of the room to do anything. Summer and Nova practice borderline incest, and she finds nothing wrong with it." She rounded onto a defiant Ruby "And you do _not_ get to call _me_ innocent. You're two years younger than me."

Ruby cheekily held up her copy of the orange book, Yang suddenly understood why Glynda liked burning them so much. Orange was an irritating colour and paper was extremely flammable.

"Experience begets wisdom." Yang replied and the sisters devolved into a staring match.

"You two do realise personal relationships also extend to your other teammates, right?" Summer interjected. "You and your partner might be getting along great, regardless of an intimate relationship or not, but you can't afford to ignore the other two."

"Sorry I'm not willing to go to such depraved limits as you do to bond with my _sister_." Yang crouched down next to Summer and whispered into her ear. "I still have this thing called _morals._ "

Summer didn't react to the accusation.

She knew Yang was smart enough to piece together the puzzle, even if her grades didn't reflect it. If schooling included socialisation, connections, and public relations, Yang would no doubt be top of her class.

"If my morals are as skewed as you think, then what does that say about how you change?" Summer navigated in the dark as she felt around for Yang, hand ghosting over her prey's ear. Yang shuddered involuntarily at the action, cursing inwardly at her traitorous body.

"Cockpit, now!" Rei tumbled from Summer's lap as Yang nearly threw Summer up and towards the front of the craft. She snorted, shaking off the worst of the fall. Her large, red eyes stared up at the former snow princess and she knew she found her mark, pouncing forward.

Summer stumbled, masking it as an effect of Yang's rough handling rather than the effect of Rei burying into Weiss' arms. She disconnecting the sight link and extended her other senses, her Aura painting an image of the cockpit in her mind.

"You're brazen enough to get me alone while there are other people just on the other side of the door." Summer reclined into the pilot's seat, the picture of composure. "We'll have to be quiet."

Yang leant over Summer, using the armrests to support herself over her.

"I don't know what type of game you're playing, but this ends." Summer felt the strands of Yang's hair brush against her face. "Stop insinuating that type of relationship with Nova."

Summer cleared her throat and Yang was too slow to stop her.

"Yes! Fuck me! Keep me quiet!" Yang clamped her hand onto Summer's mouth, falling for the bait. Summer's next words were muffled, but the sounds were still loud enough to reach the occupants in the fuselage.

She retracted her hand when Summer started licking it.

"My relationship with Nova isn't your relationship with Ruby, and it never will if you don't want it to. Any implications you took from my comments are yours alone. I only meant you shouldn't ignore Ruby and Weiss as teammates in favour of Blake."

"I don't-" Summer cut her off by pulling her onto her lap. Ruby, being usually smaller than Yang, could never comfortably do so and resorted to tackling Yang in hugs.

"When's the last time you hugged Ruby? Talked to her about her schoolwork, her role as a leader, her relationship with Weiss, your fears about your own?" Yang shifted in her seat as Summer struck cord after cord with her questions. "What about Weiss? You talk to her about her family, her sister, Ruby, the White Fang, or any other aspects of her life?"

"You've spent the last couple weeks lost in a new relationship with Blake. Don't forget about your old ones." Summer pet her younger/older sister/step-daughter, carding her fingers through golden tresses not at all different to Novas. Yang just sank into her embrace, resting her head against Summer's shoulder, indulging in the sensual altruism.

They spent a few minutes languishing together before Summer shifted, letting Yang know it was time to get off her.

"We could stay like this a little longer, let Blake sweat about what we're doing here." Yang jumped out of her lap, remembering why she dragged Summer in here.

"Blake can sweat all she wants while I interrogate you here. They can do their own bonding without me." Yang grabbed Summer by her shirt with her new arm, the mechanics working in precise rhythm.

A few days ago she'd have ripped Summer's shirt to shreds as her body reacclimatised to the arm, not yet knowing how to use it.

"I want those medical records you promised me. You managed to weasel your way out of it when I was on painkillers, but I need answers. You have me keeping secrets from my team and my leader."

"Why're keeping it a secret? I never instructed you to keep your suspicions to yourself, rather SKBN tried to teach you to avoid keeping secrets. We first told you about the war in our timeline to see whether you'd tell the rest of RWBY, but when you didn't, we told them in your stead."

"So I'm supposed to tell my team there's a subconscious part of my brain nudging me to run away from you? A part that's silent when I fight Grimm, but suddenly awakens when I'm near you?" Yang returned to whispered conversation, keeping her voice low enough to not alert her eavesdropping team. "I'm supposed to tell Ruby, her mother, terrifies me more than anything I've faced before?"

"Your instincts serve you well. They react so avidly to me because they can't sense my intentions so they perceive me as a threat." Summer fished out her scroll, scanning her fingerprint to unlock it. "My official mental condition is broadly classified as psychopathy."

"Umm, I'm on a home screen here." Yang tried to hand the scroll back but Summer ignored her, not being able to see it directly in front of her.

"Under my identification there should be a mental status assessment. Click on it and you'll get every report you want."

"And the reason why I'm navigating your scroll instead of you?" Yang's eyes widened at the veritable barrage of files listed under Summer's name. The first to pop up was the general counselor's report from Monty Memorial.

Summer took off her shades, revealing the utter lack of anything resembling an iris, pupil, or sclera in both of her eyes this time.

"I underestimated the toll my eyes would take when using them. I calculated I'd only use one eye's worth of power, but those were based off the early legends of the Silvereyes, without any substantial or concrete evidence." She placed the sunglasses in her leg pouch. "I've been blind for the last few hours. I didn't even know Rei was a Grimm until you mentioned it."

Partly true as she hadn't seen what Salem had gifted her with, just feeling out the shape of a small canine body on her lap. No one other than her and Salem knew the truth about Rei's creation, and only Salem knew from which emotion Rei was created from.

"You found a pet Grimm while you were blind and didn't notice?"

"She did try to bite my hand, but only succeeded in hurting herself. I thought she was a puppy."

"And then you decided to pilot a craft to Menagerie, with us in it?" Yang arced an eyebrow, feeling only slightly silly she was staring directly at Summer. Her gaze had no effect before her total blindness.

"The takeoff sequence is simple and I planned to have you land. I know the bearing to Menagerie and the controls by heart. The rest is autopilot."

Yang zoned out, lost in the opening paragraphs of Summer's medical reports. They read out just like any other, a list of injuries she was admitted with.

They alone took up most of two pages with the large varieties of injuries she had sustained while in the tender care of the White Fang. They were listed from most severe to least as designated by the attending, but most of her injuries at the point of her rescue were stabilised except for the most recent.

The physical side had the attendings wondering how exactly Summer had survived everything they had thrown at her, but it was her mental conditioning which had them lock Summer in a padded room with her team until they could guarantee her own safety.

Yang's face turned increasingly pale as she read the descriptions of each injury, ranging from lacerations all the way up to aggravated rape. At the last one, the scroll she held groaned in protest as her hands tightened, rage creeping into her system at the thought of her Ruby suffering through the same.

Summer didn't look any less regal sitting in the pilot's seat now that Yang knew her as a rape victim.

"What… happened…?"

"We should probably let the rest of the team in if you're finally going to let them know of your suspicions." Summer fumbled for the door handle, expecting them to roll into the cockpit.

They were instead involved in the stress relieving activity of playing with puppies. Rei nipped and practiced her pounces on Zwei and the steroid enhanced dog shouldered through it. Then they'd both turn and attack a giggling Weiss or Ruby.

Only Blake stayed away from them, using Ruby and Weiss as shields against the two menaces, ears flattened against her head.

"Are you two done having sex in the cockpit?" Nora, Yang, and _Icha Icha_ were starting to have a noticeable effect on Ruby's mannerism.

Rei broke from her playtime with Zwei and ran up to Summer, who bent down and picked her up upon feeling the small paws resting against her shin and placed her on her shoulder.

She reached about for the faintly established link and regained the ability to see in time to witness the heckles on the back of Blake's neck rise at Ruby's insinuation.

"Not my fault Yang can't keep my mouth shut." She scratched Rei's head, idly wondering how the Grimm had been so quickly accepted. Maybe Yang had the right idea about her presence. The silence within the compartment grabbed her attention and she realised everyone was staring at her. "Why'd it get quiet?"

"Might be something about you forgetting to put your shades back on." Yang popped up by Summer's side, offering her two cents.

"I didn't forget. I chose not to put them on. Easier to explain everything you want to tell them."

"Tell us what?" Ruby waved a hand in front of Summer's face, not getting a reaction. "That you're blind?"

She recoiled as Summer tried to bite the annoying hand.

"I can still visualise what you're doing with Aura pulses, but yes, I'm technically blind. But that isn't what Yang wanted to share with you." Everyone turned to face her, and Yang enjoyed stretching the tension out.

"I'm pregnant." She only managed to keep her face straight until Blake drew Gambol Shroud partially and tilted her head threateningly. "Okay, okay. Have you guys ever felt, uncomfortable around Summer? Like there's a small part of your brain that tells you to run?"

"No." Ruby answered first, her danger sensing meter still broken.

"Yes." Both Weiss and Blake answered, confusing their leader. "I assume that's just my Faunus instincts warning me she's someone dangerous."

Yang flicked Summer's scroll to projector mode and displayed the general report. Summer read the report apathetically, and only startled slightly when her vision was cut. Repeated attempts of reaching out to Rei were ignored and she could only come to the conclusion Salem was using her instead.

Her Aura pulses weren't sensitive enough to pick up on the fidgeting the younger team was going through and definitely couldn't get a read on their pallor. She wasn't prepared for the sound of one of them retching, hopefully in a bag or in the corner, and another one greatly breaching her personal space.

Her assailant was promptly reminded why Summer was the High Commander as she was flipped upside down and planted face first into the metal flooring with an arm painfully twisted behind her back.

The familiar fabric of her burnt cloak told her she was crouched on top of Ruby, the girl having had tried to give a comforting hug.

"Don't surprise me Ruby. I'm already tense as it is without my vision." Ruby replied with a muffled okay, face smushed and buried under the cloak. She was let up and Summer pulled her up.

Team RWBY just continued staring at her. "What?"

"You were raped and tortured, and you ask us to 'what?'?" Weiss wiped her lips of the remaining bile, having only read up the point of 'aggravated rape' and other more nefarious types of it before her stomach disagreed and ejected its contents. There were enough medical supplies to where she could find a bag in time. "Was this what Yang wanted to tell us?"

"No. This is just the cause of what Yang wanted to share with you." Summer could feel Blake's solemn gaze searching her face. "Stop pitying me Blake or I'll toss you out of the ship, at speed, and see how well you can swim."

"She's crazy." Yang supplied and her team stared at her. "I'm not kidding this time. Her profile has her listed as an 'alternatively sane' psychopath."

"Yet I'm still your Commander and everyone in the higher up offices, including Oz, Glynda, and Qrow know about my condition. None have raised complaints so far."

"I swear to whatever gods there exists, I'm not going to suddenly snap and murder you all." Salem and Ozpin simultaneously sneezed. "Well, I'm not in an environment which may cause me to snap. There's always that danger."

The team inched away from Summer, but this time she was able to pick up on the movement.

"We're not on a battlefield. Relax. I don't perceive you as a threat, nor do any of you possess enough skill to threaten me." She didn't tell them how the last time ended when she lost control. Bianca had let her run out of steam before trapping her in a cage and forcing Nova to knock her out.

Summer Rose had nearly been Pruned that night.

The worst part?

She remembered every action she took while in her haze, but there was no regret until her team had sat her down and explained _why_ she should've felt some smidgen of regret, sadness, or anger.

Summer, as a mask, hadn't been fleshed out properly yet and needed guidance. Objectively, she understood the deaths sustained by the White Fang and Cinder's faction weren't anything to feel remorse over, but subjectively, her team wanted their Ruby back and didn't want a second coming of Neo.

She was the better Huntress, but sentimentally, Ruby was the better person, and Summer couldn't fault them for wanting her back, or she was told Ruby would have wanted to be restored. Ruby had a rosy tinge on the world around her and Summer evoked a void.

Her team had been vaguely successful in separating the two aspects, locking 'Summer' away and teaching her how to be Ruby again. Which got a helluva lot more confusing when Ruby became Summer in this dimension and her alter remained nameless.

Neo hadn't named hers either.

Ruby was coming back with everyday SKBN tried rebuilding her.

"Are you...okay?" Yang couldn't help but cringe at her own question. What was the proper reaction to learning your Commander had spent half a year interned by the White Fang in an effort to break her?

"I'm fine." If anyone else said it, SKBN would hit them and call them out for lying. "I don't let my rape or torture affect my general personality. I've moved past it."

They didn't know whether to feel proud or terrified of Summer. She was strong to have survived what the Fang through of her and remain functional as a human being, but they weren't sure if Summer could properly fathom what happened to her anymore.

Objectively, she survived and held out against her captors, but her body and mind had paid one of the worst tolls possible.

"Can I hug you?" Summer resisted the urge to ask why. Kara hugged her all the time as did Bianca and Nova. The reasons behind them still evaded her, but she submitted to them nonetheless.

She nodded and braced for a running tackle/hug but Ruby surprised her by stepping forward and wrapping her arms around gently, nothing like the usual ones Bianca gave her where she slid a couple metres back and felt like a truck collided with her.

Nova's felt like a Primordial slamming into her, and those hugs were not nice, if ever bit smothering as Nova tested the limits of Summer's Aura.

Summer returned the hug, stroking Ruby's hair as the girl nuzzled into Summer's warmth. She rested her chin on top of her head, letting Ruby instill some measure of comfort in her tired soul.

Tired, worn, shredded, damaged; much like her cloak.

"But you do let it affect your personality." Blake said after a period of silence. "Compared to Ruby, you're beyond cold to almost everyone, colder than Weiss was when we first met her." Weiss made to reply but Blake's hand muffled her retort.

"Just because I sound cold, doesn't mean I am cold." As much as Summer tried to say otherwise, Yang swore the windows of the bullhead froze over. "I care for my team and my Hunters, and that includes you four."

"C'mon guys, it's still me, if a little older and a bit more...rough around the edges." Trust Ruby to completely ignore someone's past and accept them for who they were. Ruby didn't care about Weiss' former status as an heiress, or Blake's heritage, both Faunus and royal, or Yang's penchant for violence against Raven.

"Never change Rubes." Summer used one of Nova's nicknames for her.

"You're the one who changed, Commander." Weiss supplied after licking Blake's hand to get her to drop her gag.

"Protect her and she'll never have to follow in my path." Cue the team flinching enough for Summer to notice this time. "Blame Yang for prying into my past. You all could've stayed ignorant but she was a bit too perceptive."

"Ignorance truly is bliss then." Yang concluded.

"Truth is a weapon. In a world filled with lies and deceit, truth isn't just a rebellion, it's an act of revolution. Ignorance breeds leniency, and leniency breeds intolerance." The team understood Summer was implying it to how some humans viewed the Faunus. "Strive for the truth and let is shape who you are, for ignorance will destroy you."

Summer left them with this last bit of information before absconding back to the cockpit, leaving them to think. There was a constant nag on her Aura, a feeling of dread she had long lost; the diadem siphoning Aura into an ethereal limbo.

* * *

 _Menagerie - Refugee Camp_

Summer left the team to report to another CO as she meandered towards a secluded spring located on a hill overlooking Menagerie.

Rei napped steadily on her head, locked out of feeding on the few negative emotions floating about the island, remaining in her small and docile state. Weiss had tried to give her the puppy eyes when she'd sent them off for rudimentary first aid, but Rei refused to leave Summer's side.

She wasn't about to let a newly spawned Grimm have free reign on an island soon to be inhabited by tens of thousands of refugees. The relief and hope might cause serious harm to her.

Beside, it was rude to disturb someone's sleep, at least that's what she learned when her team got irritated with Nova when she woke them up for random shenanigans in the middle of the night.

Kara + claws + irritability did not equal a favourable outcome for anyone involved.

No matter how hard she tried to stem the trickle of Aura into the diamond on her back, she couldn't reach deep enough into her core to find where it was coming from, and erecting walls to cut off the flow was ineffective.

She was losing Aura, but not at a pace she couldn't regenerate it fast enough.

It wasn't going to Rei as she continued to passively lay on her head and wasn't reacting to her Aura, but it could've just been a side effect of the lack of anything to feed off of from her Aura.

Yet she should've grown even slightly if she was feeding off the Aura, but she remained her in her dainty, wispy form indistinguishable from Summer's hair.

What was stranger was her newfound ability to meditate without struggling to keep her alter quiet; to dampen and suppress the tidal wave of her trying to break free and take control of her body.

Either Salem was stealing her Aura, which for an impossibly old goddess responsible for the creation of Grimm was unnecessary. Stealing all of Nova's reserves could've been beneficial, but she had had decades to recuperate her losses from the Great War.

Re'iyah was the only logical culprit to where her Aura was going, but Grimm fed off of Aura and negativity. She had the Aura to supply, but not the negativity, especially if Rei was tapping into Summer's aspect and not Ruby's.

Unless Salem was taking it for nefarious reasons such as creating a Grimm based on Summer but it'd break the balance, flooding the world with creations of lesser form than Neo and Summer.

Salem and Ozpin wouldn't be able to create enough pure opposites to corral the nightmares spawned from their alters.

However, Salem had personally created Rei for Summer's use and if Rei was slowly feeding off of her Aura, then it wasn't going towards her growth and development. As much as she'd like to experiment what Rei was doing with her Aura, Salem might not take to experiments being done on her.

At the very least, she was helping with her mental control of Summer.

Summer opened her eyes upon hearing the roar of hundreds of aircraft descending towards the city. The smaller bullheads dropped off their passengers, where the people of Menagerie would help them, before ascending up to the hovering Airships, much too large to safely land anywhere.

Her three teammates were nowhere close to the city yet, having flown several leagues behind the main armada in case Atlas became aware of hundreds of ships being flown into and out of their territory.

It took a few minutes before the turbine exhaust of three landing bullheads notified her of her team's arrival.

Her pet Grimm had the worst timing as she started to rummage about, turning her hair into a mess as she sat and wagged her tail, sensing her master's pack returning to her.

She caused nothing but trouble.

Summer plucked Rei from her head and placed her on her lap, preventing any of Kara's stray bullets from harming her. She was a good enough shot to take Rei out without getting anywhere close to harming her wife.

"How was your trip?" She didn't need to link her vision back to Rei for this meeting. Her Aura pulses could tell her enough in this slow environment. Learning to fight would have to be a problem for another day.

"The three camps under our care were liberated and reduced to rubble with Nova's and my Semblance." Bianca reported. "Winter reported she'd successfully done the same but been forced to recall back to Atlas, leaving her fleet under her second."

"Why're petting a Grimm?" Nova asked, crouching in front of Summer and holding her hand out to it. Summer briefly let Rei struggle against her hold before letting up, allowing her to lick Nova's hand.

"Salem gifted her to me." At her words, a dome of glyphs blocked out her extra sensory vision, but not before Nova reappeared behind her with her hand placed against the back of skull, ready to kill her as humanely as possibly.

Weiss made no other threatening moves while Kara shifted her weapon into its pistol form.

Rei squirmed under the perceived threat but Summer washed her worries away, continuing her petting.

"Explain." The simple demand came from her second, Bianca Ironwood.

"After I left from my meeting with the Council, I decided I was going to try and end this war's benefactors. I reached out to her and she responded, expecting a call from Neo and not from me." Her team had a report to read, but hearing was better than reading. "She was polite, composed, and beyond intelligent, so we made a deal."

Bianca primed her rapier's cylinder, ready to freeze Summer into a block of ice unless she continued speaking.

"In return for her withdrawing her direct support to both Cinder and the White Fang, I promised her the Relics of Knowledge and Destruction." Summer held up her hand, stopping her team's questions and allowing her to carry on speaking. "She also agreed to leave Ruby alone and drop her vendetta against the Silvereyes, as long as she agrees to never reproduce and never use her heritage."

"What about you?" Bianca released the prison, prompting Nova to release her hold. "Anyone can see you're the much bigger threat compared to Ruby; you've used your gift before."

"Salem wanted a compromise." Summer removed her sunglasses, letting them see what Salem got in return for her neutrality. They only sighed in unison, knowing their leader was too loyal to her own people to let such a deal go down the drain where she'd simultaneously protect Ruby, gain a ceasefire, and cripple their real enemy.

"That's just great. Kara's stuck without a means of communicating with you."

"Not true." Summer held up Rei to Bianca and she hesitantly extended a finger to it. Rei yipped as Bianca brushed the fur on her snout, happy another one was willing to give her attention. "Salem didn't leave me entirely blind. I can see through her."

"Cool." Nova started scratching the Grimm as well and Kara joined in as well, not seeing any reason not to distrust the tiny Grimm helping her wife with her sight.

The moment Kara's hand touched Re'iyah, their vision was eclipsed by an explosion of sterling white and they knew no more.

* * *

"I never expected humanity to ever get to the point of succeeding in breaking the laws of the physics." Salem juggled four multicoloured orbs in her hands. Red, white, purple, and yellow cast haunting shades of light on the bleak plane of existence.

"We didn't create the laws but we did bend them a little." Her brother, Ozpin, answered, hands reaching out for the orbs.

"Correction: you bent them with your Semblances and now we're picking up the pieces." She tosses the four orbs to him and they floated over gently, the four clumping together before alighting on his hand.

"Regardless if it's my fault or not, they've been wreaking havoc on our world, manipulating events before their time, forcing both of our hands."

"They should've died when they ripped open the space between dimensions, except they didn't and took it upon themselves to help this world. Summer even sacrificed some of her powers to me in an attempt to gain my neutrality, and she succeeded."

"I'm sure Neo had nothing to do with your acceptance." Ozpin mocked until they both felt shivers travel up their spines.

The aforementioned pink haired merc stood behind them, noisily sucking on an ice-cream flavoured pop while watching them. She briefly nodded before disappearing in a shower of glass.

"You know what we have to do, don't you?" Salem nodded, beginning the process of reaching into the energies of the universe. "The balance needs to be restored, and the presence of two of the same souls were beginning to wear on me."

"I hope whatever gods exists above us can forgive our actions." Ozpin melded his energy with her.

Neo sneezed.

"See you on the other side." Their Auras clashed in a symphony of black and white, each fighting the other before devolving into a large swatch of grey as they tore a hole in the universe.

Their combined energies surged between the layers of the multiverse and slowly encroached into the ones affected, crushing them in an unending grip as they fought to restore the balance SKBN had so carelessly violated.

With a single command, their Auras restored balance, detonating in a bright blast of light, resetting each respective universe to the point before SKBN began interfering.

Unfortunately, they hadn't removed themselves from their universe, unlike the four orbs they had sent into the ether.

* * *

AN: You must hate me.

Thanks for joining me in my journey of character development. This book has ended, and the next one is in the works. I hope you'll join me in that one as well.

There are still many mysteries to solve.

* * *

Re'iyah: Meaning 'sight' or 'vision' in Hebrew.


End file.
